Erase My Heart
by Bleachfans101
Summary: A young teen that possesses the Death Note and Death Eraser sees the smoke from the church fire that Takada, Under the spell of the Death Note, started. What happens when she saves a certain blonde's body and finds the piece of Death Note his name was on?
1. Church Fire

**Alright, now if you haven't checked our profile, or read our other stories then you might not know that there are two of us that make these stories ^^ Bleachfan(S) Lol. Anyways, this is our first Deathnote fanfic and we're so happy you're taking the time to read it. Like we said in the summary, this starts off a little before Takada lit the church on fire against her will. (Power of the deathnote) But, someone sees the smoke ;) Enjoy people! And please review.**

**Also, it's a bit of a Yaoi so just sit back and enjoy! haha**

**Ps. Thank you Hiromu for helpin us think of a title. ^.^**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: Okay! New story! We don't own deathnote**

**Midnight: Because if we did, Matt would not be dead!**

**RubyR3d: You got that right!**

**Matt: Aww that's so nice.**

**Both: AHHHHH! Ghost!**

**Matt: *laughs* No not a ghost. I'm not actually dead ya know. It's just a show.**

**RubyR3d: Oh, um, well, ha! I knew that all along. *shifty eyes***

**Midnight: Suuuuuuure ya did. Anyways, Enjoy everybody!**

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The final bell had rung and right on cue, everyone jumped up and ran for the door. Some were practically knocking others over to leave the the building. But who could blame them? The English teacher's lecture was beyond boring. After the room had cleared out, the English teacher, Mr. Abukara sighed. He never got to get his last sentences out when the bell rang. There was only one who didn't run out of the room like the other immature collage students.

"Well, I'm not surprised that you're the last one here, Mai." said Mr. Abukara to the young red head who was still in her seat on the upper level. She looked up from her note book and smiled at him.

"Yeah, there really is no point to rushing. The weekends not going anywhere. I find it really annoying actually. They ran out of here like Justin Bieber was waiting outside." Mai said finishing up her notes. Mr. Abukara laughed and straightened his glasses.

"That's exactly what it seemed like didn't it? Well, did you need me to finish my last statement or are you going to head off too?" He said walking over to her seat. Mai started to put her books back into her shoulder bag. Even though she didn't feel the need to rush, she didn't want to sit there and listen to a private speech.

"No, it's fine. I'm pretty sure I know where you were going with the lecture. I'm just gonna head off. I have a lot of studying to do." Mr. Abukara was leaning on Mai's desk now and took of his glasses to clean them.

"Again, I'm not surprised. You're an excellent student and the only one getting one hundred and two percent in my class." He said trying to show how impressed he was. Saying Mai was smart is an understatement. She was only seventeen and was already in collage taking Junior classes. Mai smiled at the compliment and stood, but she noticed that when Mr. Abukara put his glasses back on, that his expression changed.

"Um, Mai?" He said. His voice full of curiosity.

"Excuse me for asking, but what is that?" He pointed to a certain little black book hanging out of her bag. Mai looked down and her eyes widened. She thought that she had left it at home. No, she knew she did. Luckily, all you could see of it was the D-E-A-T in golden letters, but it seemed like those were the only letters you needed to see to know that it was a book about Death. Mai quickly grabbed and flung the bag over her shoulder. It only caused Mr. Abukara's face to have more suspicion in it.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" He asked tilting his head downwards to look at her from the top of his glasses. Teachers and parents always did that when they wanted to talk or tell you that they're on to you..without even talking to you.

"Um..it's nothing. It's just a book I've been reading called...er..Death Wish." She could tell by his face that he wasn't buying it. '_Crap! I know that I left this thing at home.'_she thought nervously. She had only had the thing for a week and a half and it was already going to get her in trouble. Mr. Abukara grimaced.

"Oh, really? What's it about." He asked crossing his arms. 'What's his deal?' Mai said mentally. '_It's none of his business anyway.' _Mai lightly brushed her feet back and forth looking down at the carpet. Finally, she looked up at him with a cocky smile.

"It's about a girl with a death wish and in the end, she gets her wish. I'm leaving now." She said coldy walking past her teacher. Surprisingly, he said nothing when she brushed past him. Mai was a little upset now for a couple of reasons. One, she had no idea how her Deathnote got in her bag, Two, her teacher didn't need to have his nose in her business, and Three, she had no idea where her Shinigami, Naito, was.

" I didn't mean to upset you." She heard a voice say behind her. Mai turned to see that Mr. Abukara was facing her. He really did look apologetic. Mai felt instant guilt right then, but still wasn't in the mood and had to get going. Mai then turned back around and started walking again.

"It's fine" was all she said when she left the room.

After Mai left the building, she felt a lot better. The sky was gray and dull. It looked as though it may rain any second. Usually, this kind of weather would cause people to be depressed, but Mai loved this weather. She didn't really like when the sun was out, it gave her a headache. She loved the way the cool air hit her face. It made her feel so refreshed. She felt so light and free the second she left the building, but that's how every teen feels when they esca-..leave school. Mai took a deep breath of the cool air and shut her eyes, trying to relax. She tried to focus so that she could sort out her priorities for the next seven school free days. Studying was her last priority, she never really needed it. That was just an excuse to leave Mr. Abukara's class without another lecture.

For today, her first priority was to find Naito.

" Jeeze. Isn't he supposed to follow me where ever I go? I thought that's what Shinigami are supposed to do-"

"And you're absolutely right." said a familiar seductive voice. Mai jumped and turned quickly to face Naito. Naito was a very human like Shinigami. Around when he and Mai had met, he told her that out of all the Shinigami in the Shinigami Realm, he was the one who looked most like a human. If someone had accidently touched Mai's deathnote, it wouldn't be such a big deal if they saw him. He was actually pretty attractive. He had messy black hair, his attire was all black, [ Black skinny V-neck (Didn't even know Shinigamis wore V-necks), Black skinny jeans with a studded belt. (Didn't know they wore those either), And black boots.] But the most amazing feature were his bright red eyes. They were so mezmerizing that if you stared into them...yeah, you would melt. Naito loved messing with Mai. He loved how cute she was when she was angry.

"Gah! NAITO, WHAT THE HELL!" Mai screamed punching him in the stomach. She would have punched him in the face, but he was so tall compared to her. Naito laughed at her weak punch. "Don't sneak up on me like that. You know I hate that."

"Yeah, I know that." He said smiling and grabbed her in his arms. " Forgive me." He said in that irresistible voice. Mai hated when he did that too. It made her blush.

"Ooooh, no. You're not getting me this time." Mai said pulling away from him and walking the usual way she walks to go home. Naito grinned, sprouted his dark wings and followed her.

"What do you mean?" He murmured in her ear. She put her hand on his face and pushed him.

"You know what I mean. You always hug me when you want me to do something for you."

"Or maybe I hug you because I love you." He chuckled grabbing her again and lifting her about three feet in the air." Mai wiggled frantically in his arms.

"Ah! Naito, put me down. Someones gonna see!" She screamed. He laughed before putting her down.

"Relax love. No one is gonna see." He always told Mai that he loved her, but Mai never took it seriously.

"Who knows? Someone already might have. And I told you not to say that unless you meant it." She said straightening her clothing. Naito gave her a serious look.

"But I do mean it. You're just too clueless to see it. And that's funny because aren't you supposed to be one of the smartest students in the country?" he said teasingly. Which made it harder for Mai to believe that he really meant it.

"I don't have time for love. I need to focus on school and the Deathnote."

"But you don't even use it! And I've tried to get you to use it several times. I even gave you the Death eraser in case you changed your mind a little after you killed someone." He said pulling the death note out of her bag. Mai then realized something.

"So you put it in my bag!" She yelled hitting him in the head. Naito just laughed and scanned the empty pages.

"Of course. Who else could it have been?" He said handing her the deathnote. Mai grabbed it angrily and traced her fingers over the golden letters.

"Do all Deathnotes look like this?" she asked turning to Naito. He smiled at her sudden interest in it. It was better to learn about it than just letting it sit on a dresser and catch dust.

"No, mine is a special one. I'm friends with the Shinigami King's right-hand man." he said winking and his voice had a hint of cockiness in it. Mai smirked.

"And how is it so special?" She asked turning the corner. It was a short cut to her apartment.

"Well, for one, if you write in my Deathnote, you are still able to go to Heaven or Hell. The only problem, is that if you kill someone, there's a good chance you're goin' to Hell." He said following close to her. Mai looked at him in a weird way. One that said "Well then why in hell would you want me to write in it if you knew I would go to Hell?" Naito knew what she was thinking and it made him laugh again.

"Hey, it's better than a dark room for all eternity. And besides it's fun. That may sound weird, but the moment you write someone's name down, you get this sudden feel of great power and it will only make you want more. Then when you get it, you're beyond happy. But I don't want to force you into it..You know why? ..because I love you!" Naito shouted and threw his arms around her again. Mai was still trying to process what he said.

"Would you let go of me? I've never met another Shinigami, but I can tell that you're the weirdest one ever! Seriously there is something wrong with y-" Mai yelled, but something in the sky had caught her attention. Naito noticed that she had stopped trying to get out of his embrace and his eyes shot to where her's were. The both of them saw that there was a huge cloud of smoke rising above the trees. It was too much to be a barbecue and too big to be a bonfire. And who would have a bonfire at this time of day? The only explanation was that someone's house or some kind of building had caught fire.

"Naito.." she started

"I know." He said indifferently. He was caught of guard when Mai broke free and started running in the direction of the smoke. 'What the hell is that girl thinking?' he said mentally. He flapped his wings rapidly trying to keep up with her. Mai continued to run until the flames came into view. It was the old abandoned church that was being consumed by the flames.

"Oh, my God." Mai said staring wide-eyed. Naito was behind her again.

"Woah. Now how did that happen?" he said looking down at Mai. Mai shrugged, still in shock.

"Wait..is that..a truck?" Mai said pointing to the entrance of the church. Yes, it was a truck that looked as though it might have crashed. A sudden feeling came over Mai. She couldn't just do nothing. What if...

"Where the hell are you going?" Naito yelled when Mai bolted for the burning church.

"Someone might be in that truck!" She yelled back without turning around. Naito wanted to do something as soon as he saw her kick the back door of the truck open. He didn't want her to get hurt. The feelings that he said he had for her weren't a lie. And as much as he wanted to stop her, it was almost impossible to talk her out of something she promised herself to do. So, all he could do was watch and hope that she came out safe.

The flames blazed when Mai kicked the door down. She squinted through the smoke to see if there was anyone in the truck.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she screamed. The smoke started to burn her eyes and made them water. The blurriness made it harder to see. In her head, Mai went over everything she knew about how to escape a fire that she learned in fourth grade. She remembered that you had to crawl on the ground to avoid the smoke. Immediately she dropped to the ground, but still kept her eyes slightly squinted.

"Is any body In he- Ugh!" Mai started coughing when she bumped into something.

"Wha-What was that?" she said out loud trying to figure out what she bumped into. When she saw what it was, she screamed. It was a body. Mai felt nausea hit her. She was leaning on a dead body! And really didn't know what else she could do. Mai coughed roughly, her lungs begging for fresh air.

As soon as Mai got a glimpse of the face, she was able to identify who it was.

"K-K-Kiyomi Takada." '_It's Kira's spokes person' _she said mentally. '_She-she's...how did..why is she...?' _Mai was so confused. She had a good idea that Kira probably killed her. She knew that Kira had a deathnote and that you can control peoples actions before they die. Kira must have wrote that she would commit suicide. But why? And how did she get trapped in the back of a truck? Why was she naked? Mai saw that Kiyomi was curled in a sort of ball position too. All she had was a thin sheet wrapped around her. '_Poor Kiyomi' _Mai thought. But she didn't have time to feel bad for her death. She had to see if there was anyone else in the truck and at the same time, make sure she got out alive. If the truck crashed in here, that meant that there was a driver. Before looking in the front seat to check, she took one last look at Kiyomi. Mai then noticed that Kiyomi had what looked like a piece of paper crumpled in her hand. Out of total curiosity, Mai quickly bent down, pried her fingers open and grabbed the piece of paper. As soon as it was in Mai's hand, Kiyomi's body burst into flames causing Mai to fall backwards.

"What the hell? How does that just *Coughs* happen?" she panted leaning towards the front of the truck she watched as the flames consumed the rest of Kiyomi's body. She stuffed the piece of paper in her pocket and then remembered

'_Oh yeah! the driver' _Mai turned to the broken glass window that led to the front of the truck. She couldn't just squeeze through, there was too much broken glass. So she kicked the remainder of the sharp glass that was on the edges of the window. Mai could barely breath, she felt like she was going to pass out. The smoke was too much for her and it took a lot of energy to search in the front seat of the truck. When the smoke cleared up slightly, she could see a figure leaning over the steering wheel. Either the person was dead or had just passed out. She didn't care. She reached for the person and pulled with all of her remaining strength. The person fell to the floor of the truck with a loud thud. Mai fell to her knees wanting to give up.

"NOOO!" She screamed. She wasn't ready to die...not yet. Mai stood trying to regain some of her strength, Lifted the person up and pushed it against the wall. She still couldn't tell if it was a male/female yet but it sure was a little heavy. Added on with it's dead weight. Mai put one of it's arms over her shoulder and wrapped her arm around it's waist. She huffed three times before she broke out running towards the flames blocking the exit of the truck. She screamed when she jumped through them and landed on the wet ground. She roughly gasped for breath. It felt so good to be able to breath again, but barely. Between each gasp, she coughed. Her eyes ran over her body. Her clothes were severely burned and her revealing skin was blackened. Now that she was thinking about it, she was starting to feel the pain of getting burned. The light drizzle helped soothe the pain a little. Mai turned her attention to the body in her arms.

"You made it" said a relieved voice above her. Mai looked up and saw Naito bending over her. He brushed a little of her hair out of her smoke blackened face. "You almost got yourself killed...for a corpse." he said confused. He thought she had gone completely mad. Mai grunted to show her annoyance towards him. She really wasn't in the mood. She really wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

"You don't- *cough* know that. *cough* it could be that it just passed out *cough*" Mai panted. Naito shook his head.

"Mmmm. Nope. I can't see his name or lifespan. He's dead." He said, his voice emotionless. 'Oh yeah' Mai weakly thought 'Shinigami eyes. And did he say..His?'

"How do you know it's a boy?" Mai panted. She still couldn't move around much. She could only tilt her head slightly upwards.

"Well, for one he doesn't have a chest." He said smirking a little and pointing to the corpse's torso. Mai glanced over to look and nodded. "Then second, he's...well..You know what Mai? I really can't tell. I mean, he has a feminine body, but at the same time masculine. The hair is a little girlish. Come on! He has bangs!. That's all I can really see. He's burned really bad and a little blackened so I can't really make anything else out." Naito said lifting the body away from Mai so that he could help her stand. She was really wobbly and let Naito support all of her weight. The piece of paper that Mai had in her pocket fell out and caught Naito's eye.

"What's that?" He asked pointing down to it.

"Hmmmm?" Mai mumbled in his shoulder. She turned to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, Kira's spokes person was the other person in the truck, but she was already dead. I saw that she was holding it and I took it...I was curious." Mai was actually able to talk without coughing her brains out and she was starting to get her strength back. Mai steadied herself to bend down and pick up the crumpled piece of paper.

"This guy was already dead too. Why did you save his body?" Naito asked.

"I didn't know he was dead!" Mai raised her voice as she straightened out the paper. She saw that the letters written spelled 'Mihael Keehl'

"Looks like a piece of the Deathnote to me." Naito said reading over her shoulder.

"Yeah...what was Takada doing with- Well she is Kira's spokes person. It makes sense that she would have a little of the Deathnote with her." Mai said looking back at the burning church. "Wait! Didn't they say yesterday that Takada was kidnaped? And when I saw her she was leaned against a wall wrapped in a thin blanket." Mai looked down at the severely burned man.

"I wonder...Is he...the kidnaper?" She murmured. Mai then felt very sorry for his death and less for Takada's. She never was a Kira supporter. She was glad that Takada was kidnaped and that she was dead. Mai was slightly disgusted with herself that she had actually felt sorry for Takada. That's why she never used her Deathnote. She didn't want anything in common with Kira. It may have been harsh, but Mai despised Kira for so many reasons and thought that anyone who supported him, wanted to die.

"Are you okay, Mai?" Naito said nervously. He had noticed her angry features and it was starting to freak him out. Mai snapped out of her little thoughts and looked at Naito.

"Oh, I'm fine. Sorry. Anyway, the name that she wrote down had to of been this man. I can't think of anything else." Mai said leaning down to the corpse. '_Mihael Keehl' _She said mentally _'What a nice name_.'

"So what are we going to do with this body? Are you just going to leave it here?" Naito said tapping Mai's head. Mai pushed his hand away.

"No. I going to-" Mai was distracted when she saw a sleek black car pulling up to the side of the church.

"Crap! I can't let those people see me with a corpse. Naito! Help me!" Mai yelled trying to pick up the body. Naito groaned and rolled his eyes before lifting the man's legs.

"And he wears boots with wedged heels? This guy has got to be-"

"Will you shut up and help me over to that bush?" she yelled. Trying to lead him that direction. Naito chuckled before following her lead. After they reached the bush, Mai hid behind it and pulled the corpse next to her so that it couldn't be spotted. Naito didn't need to hide. There was no way they would be able to see him.

Mai watched as three men wearing suits stepped out of the car and hurried over to the church. One of the men had a goatee and had a very very slight afro that looked like it had recently been cut, another was a very handsome and young man with redish-brown hair who looked as though he had a slight smirk, and the last had cat eyes and hair that looked slicked down.

Mai watched as they ran in front of the church and their faces were filled with shock. All except the red-brown headed man who's facial expression looked fake.

"Wh-Who the hell are these guys?" She whispered.

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**Okay that was the first chapter, hope you liked it! The romance is coming you just gotta be patient with us. ^.^ Please review! And stick around.**


	2. Death Eraser

**We're glad that those of you that read the first chapter liked it ^.^. It took a while to think up ideas for this chapter. That, and Rubyr3d was having Internet issues. (Trying to watch the Death Note episodes where this took place.) And to Idk what my name is, Thank you so much :D And yes, we would love to write a Vampire Knight fanfic if you want us to. Anyways, Enjoy and Please Please Review! ^.^**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: BleachFans101 do not own Death Note.**

**Midnight: Because if we did-**

**RubyR3d: L and Misa would have had a secret romance going on ;)**

**Misa: NO WAY!**

**L: I don't see anything wrong with that. *smiles at Misa***

**RubyR3d: Why is it that when we do a disclaimer for a story, the characters from that anime show up? I mean really.**

**Midnight: Because..um...well...I dunno...**

**Ichigo: Maybe because it's OUR anime**

**Misa: Ichigo? What the hell? You're in the wrong anime BUB! *Kicks back into Bleach***

**Midnight: Well, that was weird... Ummm, Enjoy everybody!**

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Mai remained crouched behind the bush with the corpse as she watched the men in suits discuss something with one another. All but one seemed really panicked. '_Who are they? and what..are they talking about? And how long are they going to talk in front of a burning church? Are they stupid?' _Mai continued to mentally asked these questions. Something was obviously not right if these men would just know to come here while the church was on fire. It was also odd that they weren't calling for help. _'Could they be...like..secret workers for Kira? I can't think of any other reason they would just know to come...Wait. No, they couldn't be. If they were, then they wouldn't look as surprised about the fire as they are...But why is that one man...smirking?_' Mai stared at the man with the red-brown hair. There was something off about him. She could sense that just by looking at his eyes. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well, Well." Naito said in a tone that made Mai look at him. Naito was also looking in the direction of the smirking man. Then he looked down at Mai. He looked like he was dying to tell her something.

"Wh-What is it?" Mai said starting to get a little nervous by Naito's expression. He put a finger to his lips to let her know to stay quiet.

"I talk, you listen okay? Since they can't here me." he said. Mai nodded and motioned him to go on. Naito looked up and scratched his head thinking of a way to tell her. "How about we play a speed round of Charades?" He asked smiling a little. Mai gave him a weird look that said "Are you freakin' serious?" Mai was really good at talking with her face. So, Naito was able understand a little. He let out a loud chuckle. Mai quickly looked back at the men who were still talking, but then remembered that there was no way of them being able to hear Naito. She still needed to get used to being the only one who could.

"Trust me on this, Love. You'll be happy to know this." He said slowing his chuckle. Mai rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Okay, well I'm not completely sure that it's against the rules to tell your human about someone else possessing a Deathnote. But just in case it is..." Naito said reaching for Mai's shoulder bag and pulled out her Deathnote. Then Naito started to walk in the direction of the man. When he got within arms distance, he started pointing from the Deathnote to the man over and over. Then he pointed from the man, to the church. It didn't take long for Mai to realize what he was saying. That man...was Kira. '_But how does he kno- oh yeah. Shinigami eyes_.' Mai stared wide-eyed. She felt the sudden need to use her Deathnote. Kira was so close, it would only take forty seconds. She could do this... '_No! I will never use my Deathnote. I will never be like Kira_.' she thought towards herself. Naito looked back at Mai and from the look on her face, he could tell that she got the message. When Naito walked back to her, he handed the Deathnote over to Mai. She gently took it without taking her eyes off of Kira.

"Are you alright?" Naito asked placing a hand over her shoulder. Mai turned to him and shook her head.

"No, not really. I actually wanted to kill him. More than anything just now." she whispered. Naito gave a small smile and reached in his pocket to pull out a feather pen. He offered it to Mai.

"Then do it. Would you like me to tell you his name?" He said. Mai looked at him confused.

"You know that's against the rules. What are you thinking?" she said handing the pen back to him. Naito took it back and had an annoyed look on his face. He really wanted her to use it.

"I'll do anything for you. That, and I'll do anything that will get you to use the Deathnote." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Not gonna happen. Sorry. I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets caught and executed. It'll be hard to just let him get away, but don't have much of a choice" Mai said leaning her head down to put her chin on her charred knees. She flinched from the slight sting of the burn.

"Don't worry, he will be." Naito said confidently. '_He sounds so sure_.' Mai thought looking at him. He grinned at her and winked. Mai couldn't help but smile back. Naito may have been annoying at times, but did know how to make her feel better. Suddenly, Mai thought of something again.

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore. I have to do something." She whispered loudly.

So, she gently leaned the corpse against the broken brick wall next to her, reached in the pocket of her skinny jeans and pulled out her cell phone.

"What are you doing Mai?" Naito said leaning over her shoulder.

"What's it look like? I'm calling 911. I just can't stand the fact that they aren't doing anything. I mean the men that aren't Kira could at least call for help." She said putting the phone to her ear.

After Mai called 911, the Police and several fire trucks showed up about three minutes later. Even news reporters showed up, but Mai had nothing to do with that. They always popped up somewhere on there own. While the firemen began extinguishing the flames, the police questioned the three suited men for a few minutes. Mai remained bored sitting behind the bush.

"Aw man, my butt fell asleep!" She nearly yelled. Naito gave a choky laugh.

"Then stretch." his tone making what she needed to do sound obvious.

"I can't. They'll see me." She said struggling to stretch while sitting down. She fell backwards trying to do so and it only entertained Naito more.

"Mai? Let me ask you a question. Why are we still here if you don't want to get caught with a corpse? Lets just go home." He said still laughing slightly at Mai's clumsiness. Mai sat back up glaring.

"Because, if that man..Kira knew to come here, he knew that the kidnaper was with Takada." Naito lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm still not following." He said looking back in Kira's direction. Mai sighed.

"That means that they're expecting another person in there. That person, is right here." she said eyeing the corpse. "If they stay long enough for the firemen to do a search and he sees that Takada's is only body they could find, he'll get suspicious. I mean I can't just leave it here. That would make it even more suspicious, c'mon, why would a charred corpse be on the outside and next to the burning church?"

Naito nodded understandingly as she explained. 'Good point' he thought smiling.

"Then what are you going to do?" Naito asked sitting beside her. Mai shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. That's what I'm trying to think through." Mai struggled to think of a plan. Every time she thought she had a good one, she would find a flaw in it. Light footsteps made her snap back from her thoughts. Mai quickly turned around to see a man walking up the path. He looked almost around her age, maybe eighteen. He had a laptop bag on his shoulder and was reading a novel as he walked.

"Oh damn. He's going to see us." Mai said trying to scrunch into the bush without the firemen or suited men spotting her. Naito watched as the man got closer and thought of a plan. He turned to Mai and grinned. Mai lifted an eyebrow at his expression.

"What?" But Naito continued to grin.

"You said they'll be expecting another body right?" And at his tone, Mai knew exactly what he was planning on doing.

"No, Naito. Do not." Mai warned looking back ad forth from Naito to the man. Naito chuckled and reached for the Deathnote. Mai tried to grab his hand to stop him, but she was too slow. Naito, for the second time, pulled out his feather pen, opened to the second page in the Deathnote, and began to write. '_That's right. Shinigami eyes. He can already see his name_.' Mai kept forgetting about what his eyes could do.

"Naito, please don't do this." she begged. '_That man is innocent and has nothing to do with this_.' She wanted nothing more at the moment than to stop Naito, but there was only so much she could do. She could only watch as Naito wrote the poor man's name in the notebook. After thirty five seconds, Mai looked away. Then five seconds later she could hear grunts coming from the man and a loud thud on the ground. She knew that he was dead on the ground now and still refused to look. She knew that Naito did this for her, so that she could get away from this area, but it would still be a while until she could find it in her heart to forgive him for what he had just done. That was one one of the things Naito loved about Mai. She was still good. Her mind wasn't taken over by the Deathnote. As much as he wanted her to be the one to kill the man, he wanted this Mai more than what she would become if she had.

He gave her an apologetic expression and stood to walk over to the man's body. Mai could hear the shifting of Naito picking up the body. Mai had just learned something new. If the body of a human is dead, then a God of death can touch it.

"I'll be right back." Naito said to her softly as he swung the corpse over his shoulder. Mai nodded without looking at him. Naito flew low enough so that no one could see into the still burning church.

While Mai waited for him to come back, she glanced down at the corpse beside her and something caught her eye. She noticed that the man had a chain around his neck and at the end of it was a cross. Mai slowly reached to touch it and ran her fingers over the burned wood of it. Mai had a cross just like this back at home. She never wore it though. It was given to her by someone important and she didn't want to take the chance of ruining it. It looked as if it would crumble if she put any more pressure on it so she pulled her hand back not wanting to. She then looked into the man's face and her eyes widened. Without all the burns, scrapes and charcoal, this man was...beautiful. 'He looks like he might be...Russian? German?' she thought looking over all of his features. Mai was also good at recognizing different nationalities, no matter how hard it was to tell. But this man was different. She wished she knew what color his eyes were, but she was NOT going to pry his eyelids open. Mai wasn't thinking at the moment and her hand automatically reached out to push his hair out of the way. None of his hair seemed to be burned off, but it definitely was blackened. Even so, it was still very soft and light.

"Um..what are you doing?" Naito said behind her making her let out a weak yelp. She hadn't realized how close she was to the corpse and blushed. Naito frowned.

"Oh okay. I see. You don't like me, but the second I leave you're trying to make out with a dead man?" He shook his head. "That's just wrong Mai." Mai hit the back of his legs to make him fall, feeling embarrassed.

"I wasn't trying to make out with him you idiot. I was just getting a better look at him. This guy looks like he might be in his early twenties." she said looking at the corpse again. He was really burned badly to the point where Mai could see the skin lifting on his arm where a rain drop fell. She shook her head slowly feeling guilty. Naito knew that expression because she had made it several times before.

"Don't tell me you think this is your fault" he said in an annoyed tone. Mai looked at him side ways and frowned.

" Well, maybe if I had gotten here sooner, I could have saved him." Naito shook his head again.

"Mai. For all you know, this guy could have been dead before the fire started." Mai looked up at the church the now extinguished church.

"So you put that man's body in the church." Mai changed the subject. It wasn't a question. She already knew that he did. Naito slowly nodded.

"I know you did this because you didn't want the corpse's not being their to cause suspicion, but promise me Naito." she breathed and looked into his red eyes with her emerald green ones. " Don't ever do this again. Kill for me I mean."

The beauty of her eyes was to much for him. He couldn't help but make the promise to her. Mai smiled and sighed. _'Well, so much for my not forgiving him.' _she said mentally.

The both of them turned in the same direction at the same time. The suited men were now getting back in their car and the police started speaking to the firemen. Mai watched only Kira as they drove away.

"There goes Kira." Naito said with a hint of amusement. " I have this weird feeling that we're going to see him again though." Mai gave another small sigh in agreement. She felt the same way.

"So what are we going to do now?" Naito asked looking down at the burned man.

Mai looked up at the gray sky letting the soft drizzle fall on her cheeks. It was really refreshing and helped clear her head, so that she could think of something.

After about five minutes, Mai snapped her head forward and had a slight smile playing on her lips. Naito rose an eyebrow at her. That seemed to be his way of asking a question.

"I just thought of idea Naito. Don't try and stop me okay?"She said starting to stand, but remaining slightly crouched. 'Uh-oh'

"Well it all depends on what you're planning-" He was interrupted by watching Mai try to pick up the corpse. This girl was insane. Was she actually trying to take this thing with her? Naito shook his head not knowing what to say. Mai never ceased to amaze him.

The corpse was too heavy and floppy for Mai to pick up alone.

"Ugh! This is hopeless. C'mon man work with me." She said to the corpse. Yup. She was definitely insane. She looked up at Naito.

"Help?" She said smiling, showing her teeth. Naito rolled his eyes and went to grab the man's legs.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you're planning on taking this thing home, but I'm just very confused as to why."

"Well, I wanted to-"

"Blah! Blah! Gah! I don't want to know. I'll wait for the surprise." He said loudly. Mai let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I think that would be best." she said leading him to the opposite way home.

"Where are we going?" Naito asked taking on more of the corpse's weight.

"Well, we can't go the usual way home because I can't let people see me walking down the street with a corpse. We'll find another way." She said turning the corner.

"Mai. You always take the usual way home. You know we're going to get lost don't you?"

"No we are not!" Mai nearly shouted at him and they continued to walk.

Naito and Mai arrived at the apartment about and hour and a half after they left the church. As Naito predicted, they had gotten lost.

"Ugh! finally!" Mai panted. She unlocked the door and kicked it open. When they were inside, Mai dropped her shoulder bag on the floor. Naito closed the door with his foot before helping her move the corpse over to the couch. Mai shared the apartment with her best friend/roommate, Brooke. When ever Brooke was home, the TV would always be on in the living room. The living room was sort of combined with the kitchen and dining room. The apartment was a decent size and they both had their own rooms. Thank goodness that when they came in, the TV was off.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Brooke when she gets back. She's gonna go insane." Mai said sinking to the floor and leaning her head back on the couch. She was still a little out of breath having to carry a body four floors up.

"Well, what were you planning to do in the first place when you brought him here?" Naito said sitting down next to her. Mai scooted a few centimeters away from him. He was a liiiittle too close.

"What happened to you waiting for the surprise?" she said smirking.

" The long walk made me impatient" he said giving a a look. Mai playfully slapped the back of his head.

"Hey, give me a break would you? I usually take the short cut home, so I'm not used to that route." she said defending herself. Naito sucked his teeth.

"Enough talking about that. I'll be right back." Mai said standing up. She tugged on her shirt to straighten it out, pivoted on her heals and walked towards her room door. Naito watched after her in awe. She was so graceful. Naito shook his head free of the thought and turned his attention back to the corpse. '_I can't believe this blonde person is actually a man. This dude is..what do they call it here in the human world?...A trap?_' he thought to himself and then nodded. '_Yeah, that's the word. A man who likes to look feminine.' _Naito moved closer to get a better look. '_It really works on him though. I hate to admit it, but...up close...this guy is pretty...good looking.'_

"Yeah. And I'm the one in the wrong." Mai said from behind Naito and making him jump. "Looks to me like you're the one who wants to make out with a corpse." Mai said with her hands on her hips. She seemed to be holding something in her right fist. Naito shot back up.

"I wasn't! I was just-"

"Getting a better look?" She said mockingly walking over and kneeling at the couch. Naito glared at the back of her red head.

"Calm down Naito, I was only joking. Unlike you." Mai said reaching into her back pocket to pull out the folded piece of paper with 'Mihael Keehl' written on it. Naito watched as she unfolded it and straightened it out on the coffee table.

"What are you going to do with that?" Naito asked walking and kneeling next to her. Mai looked at him sideways and lifted up what she had in her hand.

The Death Eraser. Naito raised his eyebrows at her.

"Mai." he said shaking his head.

"I don't want to hear it, Naito. Look. Who ever this is, I'm sure that he was very much aware of the chances of being killed. That's so...brave. I don't think he deserved to have his life taken away. So...I want to give it back." Mai placed the piece of paper on the coffee table and held the eraser over it.

"Mai, you don't even know this guy. It's not your job to bring him back." Mai suddenly turned to him to grip his shoulders. She leaned in until their faces were two inches apart. Naito stopped breathing and his eyes widened. He could smell her sweet breath caressing his face.

"I told you not to try and stop me." she breathed. She knew that Naito couldn't say no to her if she did things like this. "You said you would do anything for me didn't you? Well, then prove it to me by explaining the rules to this eraser."

"That's not fair. You're cheating." he said a little playfully, looking into her eyes. Mai let out a laugh and sat back again. She started fiddling with the hem of her skirt and blushed.

"So will you do it?..please?" Mai tried her best to give her cutest puppy dog pout ever. It always worked for Brooke when she wanted to borrow Mai's clothes. Why wouldn't it work in this situation?

Naito looked away from her, not being able to handle her cuteness. Then he let out a frustrated groan.

"Fine." he said rolling his eyes. " But this is-" He was interrupted by Mai throwing herself at him.

"Thank you Naito." She murmured. '_she on me!..., she's on me!..., she's on me. Finally, she hugged me back. Thank God, I agreed to this.' _Naito continued to enjoy the physical contact and wrapped his long arms around her tightly. He completely forgot what he was going to say to her before.

"You're welcome." he said burying his face in her neck. "I love you so much!" Naito said happily. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he did.

"Um..ugh! Naito, you're...ugh..crushing me!" Mai yelled trying to get out of his hold.

"I don't wanna let go yet." He said with a wide grin.

"You better let go." she said still struggling to get him off. She had to squeeze her hands between their chests so that she could push him off. " Before I kick you somewhere that you don't want to be kicked." Naito's eyes popped open and he let her go immediately. Mai let out a breath of relief and sat up. She glared at him and it only made him laugh.

"Alright, now that I'm not being crushed, let's get to the rules of this thing." She said pointing to the eraser. Naito smiled and looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, lets see. The human who's name is erased's body, has to be be in good condition." Mai looked at the corpse cringed and looked back at Naito.

"I mean it has to be in one piece." Mai sighed in relief and Naito continued. "It takes forty minutes for the human to come back...depending on how long they've been dead and the condition the body is in, and they don't remember the last thirty minutes of their life." Mai nodded as he spoke. " All they they know is that they died...not how. They have no memory of heaven or hell, oh! and here's the coolest part, since the human was killed by the Deathnote, they can't be affected by it again."

Mai raised her eyebrows at that.

"Yeah, I have to admit, that is the coolest thing." She thought everything over. The guy's body wasn't in terrible condition. They announced Takada's kidnapping around 2 or 3 in the morning. So the longest he had probably been dead for was 4-5 hours. It should take 40 minutes or 50. Mai took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the piece of Deathnote. "I think I'm ready."

Naito placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" he said, his voice sincere. Mai nodded.

"Positive." she said. Then Mai placed her finger tips on the edge of the paper to make sure it didn't slip, and erased Mihael Keehl's name.

**38 minutes later**

"This is the longest forty minutes ever" Mai complained pacing back and forth. She was even chewing on her finger nails. Naito watched her amused.

"It's only been 38 minutes. And if you keep pacing like that, you're going to make a hole in the floor."

"Shut up! Who asked you?" Mai spat. Naito leaned back a little wanting to give her some room.

"Well." he scoffed. "See I told you that you might not want to do this. You didn't think about what you were going to do when this guy comes back or how you're going to explain anything to him."

"I know! God! Get off my bac-" The sound coming from the couch distracted the both of them. Mai nearly screamed. Yeah, she definitely wasn't ready for this. Naito suddenly was behind her and wrapped his arms around her in comfort. The both of them watched as the man on the couch sighed and groaned. He started to stretch his arms and shift around.

"Mahmt" the man murmured. His voice startled Mai. It was deeper than she thought it would be, but then again, he did just come back from the dead. Mai looked up at Naito and patted his arms softly to let him know that she was okay. Naito nodded and released her.

"Mahmt" The man murmured drowsily again. Mai slowly inched over to the couch. She gasped when she looked at his face. It was so much more different than from when he was dead. He was even more stunning than before. His face had more color and looked so angelic. Then Mai noticed something. '_Was that scar always there?' _Mai thought leaning closer. '_How could I have not noticed that?' _Unthinkingly, Mai reached out to run her fingers across his scar. It felt and looked too old to be from the church fire.

"Mmmm" The man groaned under Mai's warm soft touch. Then unexpectedly, his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh, my.." Mai started, but she couldn't find her words. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue. She had never seen any like them before. So crystal clear, so full of life. And the expression on his face when he laid his eyes on her. 'He's looking at me like...like he knows who I am.' Mai thought blushing. She realized how close she was to his face. Closer than when they were at the church.

The man then weakly reached up to caress Mai's cheek, earning a gasp from her. Mai was frozen, she had no idea what to do. Why wasn't Naito doing anything?

At the corner of her eye, she could see Naito watching in horror. It was obvious that he didn't know how to react to this either.

A shiver went down Mai's spine when the man ran his hand to the back of her neck, and the other wrapped around her waist to press her against him. Mai let out a small yelp, trying to pull away, but even if he just came back, he was stronger than she was.

Then...it happened. The blonde pulled her face to his to smash their lips together. Mai's eyes got even wider and she made small noises as she tried to escape his arm prison, but he refused to let her go.

Naito was still in too much shock to do or say anything. But one thing was for sure...he was fuming.

Mai felt the blonde forcefully part her lips so that his tongue could explore her mouth, making Mai shriek internally. Mai was using her full strength to try to get free. Mai never was the strongest girl around...more like the weakest. The blonde tangled his fingers in her hair pressing their bodies even closer together.

Suddenly, something changed. Mai was getting..hot, and she stopped resisting. She didn't know why she was allowing this, but just like that, she couldn't find herself to stop. This was actually her first kiss. Too bad it's with a stranger.

The kissing slowed and the room was silent. You could only hear the sound of he two's ragged breathing. Mai was the noisiest. Her breathing was more like loud gasps. Mai laid her head on the blondes chest, feeling out of energy, but he tilted her head back up so that he could look at her again. He then pressed his lips to hers one more time and ran his lips to her ear.

"Matt." He murmured.

* * *

**Alright I know that chapter sucked. We tried so hard to make it as good as the last one, but you have no idea how much we're stressing over finals. We hope you still liked it. Don't worry, it's going to get better because we have a guest author helping us. ;) She'll be in the next Disclaimer (Which we now draw out ^.^ The link to this chapter's Disclaimer is on our profile. Please forgive us for the chapter and we still hope you're enjoying the story. :)**


	3. Confusion

**Konichiwa! ^.^ Finals are finally over. Thank God! Now we can update a lot more. We're so glad that you guys are liking it so far. We can promise you that things are gonna get really good, now that we have about 4 authors pitching in to help write this fanfic. They have some pretty creative minds ;) They are going to be in our Disclaimer every now again.**

**Also, we started a group on Deviant art. It would be so awesome if you guys join. There you can submit a few chaps of your fanfics and the other members will help you think of ideas. Check it out! ^.^**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: We don't own Deathnote**

**Midnight: Yeah, because if we did...um..**

**teB360: Beyond Birthday would have been in the anime and he would have been mine! Bwaahaha!**

**Midnight and RubyR3d: *Cringe away from in fear***

**RubyR3d: Yes..This is the newest one of our Bleachfans, teB360!**

**teB360: *Bows twice to readers and flashes a grin***

**Midnight: Yeah, you guys are gonna love her! She's an awesome author. We'll introduce the next Bleachfan, next Disclaimer ;)**

**RubyR3d:Enjoy you guys!**

* * *

**RECAP! ^.^:**

_**The kissing slowed and the room was silent. You could only hear the sound of he two's ragged breathing. Mai was the noisiest. Her breathing was more like loud gasps. Mai laid her head on the blondes chest, feeling out of energy, but he tilted her head back up so that he could look at her again. He then pressed his lips to hers one more time and ran his lips to her ear.**_

* * *

"Matt." He murmured.

'Wha...what did he say? Did he just call me...Matt?' Mai said thought. She was so confused. And why did that name sound so familiar?

"I must be in heaven, if I'm with you now." The man murmured trying to pull Mai's face back to his. Mai was able to resist it this time. She wasn't ready for another kiss. She was still recovering from the last.

The man obviously thought he was still dead. The thought made Mai giggle a bit.

"Um.." Mai struggled for words so that she could explain. "My name is Mai...and you're not in heaven. Sorry." She said unwrapping the man arms from her waist and sitting up straight. She still remained close to the couch. The man wiped and blinked his eyes before looking at Mai again. Suddenly, his expression changed from calm and angelic, to shocked and confused. He snapped up immediately and leaned deeply into the couch, trying to get as much space away from her as possible. His swift movement startled her.

"Gah! Damn! What the?" The blonde shreiked. He looked down at his body. Every inch of him was covered in burns, lifted skin, and charcoal. He hissed at the pain. He tried to think back to where he might have gotten this injury from, but couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was kidnaping Takada and finding out that...Matt had been killed in a shooting...and then...he remembered..nothing. He could have sworn that he had died. Didn't he? And if Matt was dead, and he was alive, then who was...

"Um..hello?" Mai said softly not wanting to startle him. The blonde snapped his attention back to her.

"What the..you're not...Who the hell are you?" The man said raising his voice. He looked a little frightened at the moment, along with embarrassed. Probably from kissing a stranger.

"I just told you." Mai said backing away slowly, trying to give him some room. "My name is Mai. Don't worry...I'm not going to hurt you. I can explain everything." She said lifting her hands in defense. The blonde looked a little insulted at that statement. He glared at her and slowly stood, tying to avoid any movement that would make the pain worse. He still kept his distance.

'Wow. He's tall...and curvy?.' Mai thought watching him. The blonde flinched as he straightened his back. 'Dammit! I'm burned there too? When the hell did this happen? And From what?'

"You think I'm afraid that you're going to hurt me?" The blonde spoke in a low tone. "I'm not afraid of you, little girl." Mai put her hands down and glared back at him. She hated being called that, and she got called that a lot when she actually was a little girl. She changed a lot since then, but still had some kid in her.

"Excuse me? I'm seventeen years old for your information." The blonde waved his hand at her like you would to a fly.

"Like I give a shit. I'm twenty one. I do everything that you can't do yet, short stuff. " He said. His voice full of cockiness. This was too weird. This guy had some nerve. Mai then felt slightly rueful for bringing him back.

"First of all, you're in my house..you...wanna be...female...cross-dresser!" Mai then for the first time noticed what he was wearing. That helped her come up with the insult. He was wearing a dark red vest with no shirt underneath and black leather pants. It would have been a pretty hot outfit if it wasn't for the several wholes that the fire burned through. Mai snapped out of it and continued. "Second, In my house, you watch your language, so no saying the F, S-h, or B-word. And Third, Instead of being a jerk, you should be thanking me for saving your ass." Mai said sticking her tongue out at him.

The blonde lifted his eyebrows, shocked. He wasn't used to people talking back to him, let alone insulting him. There was only one other person that had ever done that...But that person was gone. The thought of him made the blonde start to tear up, which was rare.

Mai noticed this and immediately felt that it was her words that hurt him. 'Was what I said that bad?'

"Um..hey. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings...I didn't think what I said would be tha-"

"It's not what you said! Just...don't worry about it." He said wiping the tears, obviously trying to play the role of the tough guy.

"This is just too fun to watch" Naito spoke up making Mai jump, but she quickly composed herself remembering that she was the only one that could see him right now. Ignoring him, Mai focused back on the blonde. He looked away from her not wanting her to see his tears. Once his eyes were dry, he looked back at her. Mai tried to bite back a smile when she saw eye shadow smudges. She cleared her throat and took a breath.

"Okay, I'm just as confused as you are at this point." She said slowly walking over to him. She offered him her hand when she was in arms distance. The man looked down at it like it was a moldy piece of cheese.

"Lets just start fresh okay? I realize that you probably have a lot of questions. I can clear those up for you. Then, in return, you answer some questions for me okay?" Mai had a gentle smile on her lips. The blonde stared at her hand for a few more seconds before shaking it.

"Deal" He said darkly. "So first question, What am I doing here?" Mai exhaled and released his leather gloved hand. She thought for a second. She had to be very careful to be sure that she doesn't tell him too much.

"Hmmm. That's kind of a long story." Mai gestured for him to sit down.

"I'd rather stand" He said crossing his arms. He flinched again at the pain. "Ah! What the fuck?" At that, Mai purposely poked him in one of his burns. He slapped her hand away.

"What the hell is your deal?" He growled at her, holding his hand in a tight fist. Mai could have sworn he was going to try and punch her, but he surprisingly didn't.

"I told you to watch your language."

"You can't be serious!" He exclaimed.

"Do I not look serious?" She said trying to make the most serious expression ever. Right when he really looked at her face, her expression was the last thing on his mind. She was beautiful.

He murmured something softly. Mai's expression disappeared. The way he was looking at her was a little scary. She didn't really hear what he said.

"Wait.. what?" She leaned in closer so that she would be able to hear him this time. The blonde shook his head.

"Nothing...forget I said anything." Once again the blonde flinched from the pain. Since they were starting over, Mai wanted to help in someway. She couldn't just let him stand there and suffer.

"I can help you. You know, with your burns." she offered. "It's your lucky day. I actually took some classes on how to treat burns. If I start now, I may be able to treat them to the point where it won't leave a scar." The blonde looked up at her with a slight excited expression. The last thing he wanted was another scar. The one on the side of his face was bad enough.

"Um...sure. Thank you...Mai." Mai smiled when he said her name. The way he said it was so gentle.

"Don't mention it...Mihael." It took a while for Mai to realize what she just did. 'Dammit! another explanation.'

"What the hell? How did you?" Mihael moved away from her again. How did she know his name? He was so confused, it didn't make any sense. Mai struggled for what to say next.

"Okay, now I have more explaining. Don't freak out. I promise to explain, but let me treat your scars first." She said moving her hands in a calming gesture. Mihael gave her a weird look. Since he was in no position to accuse her of anything, he just went along with it. Plus, Mai didn't look dangerous at all. She actually looked simpathetic which made it easier for him to trust her.

"Fine" He said bluntly. This was going to be a long day. Mihael looked at the window. It was pouring outside. It was dark and you can see the wind blowing the screen of the window.

"I love this kind of weather." Mai suddenly said also looking outside. She sighed as she watched the rain soak the ground of the balcony. Mihael looked back at her. Her expression was soft and peaceful. He just couldn't get over the fact that she looked a lot like Matt. She had almost the same green eyes, same bright red hair, although hers might have been a tint darker and it was shoulder length. But right now, he would have compared anything or anyone to Matt. Anyone with red hair, would remind him of him. He then thought of something and looked at what she was wearing. There were no stripes, but she seemed to like checkered clothing. She dressed in a sort of scene style now that he looked at it. Similar to the way that Mihael dressed himself.

"So do I. It's really relaxing." He said, his tone a little less harsh. Mai seemed like one of those people that you couldn't be mad at. And if you were mad, then you wouldn't be for very long.

"Well, that's one thing we have in common. Hopefully there'll be more." She said flashing a friendly and breathtaking smile. He looked away when he felt like he was about to blush. He didn't turn away in time and Mai saw a light tint of pink playing on his cheeks. Mai cleared her throat again and changed the subject.

"Okay, well about the treatment. I need to start with a clean surface." She said gesturing towards the hall. "You're welcome to use my shower if you like, but I would recommend using cool water instead of warm." Mai didn't know why, but she blushed at the thought of him being in her shower. She glanced at him, looking mainly at his clothing again. She tried to picture what he would look like without his vest. She shook her head rapidly at that second. 'Gah! what the hell's the matter with me?' she said mentally.

"Sure...thanks" was the only response she received. She nodded and lead him down the hall. She stopped at a small closet door that match the white wallpaper. If you didn't pay close attention, you probably would miss it. Mihael watched as she opened the closet door and tried to reach the top shelf for a wash cloth. He snickered as she stood on her tippy toes and still couldn't reach. She really was a tiny little thing.

Matt was tall-

'Shit' he thought to himself. 'Stop comparing every little thing to Matt. Matt is dead. I need to just clear my head of him...but I can't ' Mai noticed his silence.

"Hey, Mihael? Are you okay? I told you I would explain everything to you. Don't worry yourself so much. Unless...it's something else?" Mihael looked down at her and pushed his unpleasant thoughts away.

"Oh, no it's nothing." he lied.

"Hmm. I'm good at being able to tell whether or not people are telling the truth. By your lip movement and tone, I can easily say that you're lying." He gave her a strange look.

"Well, you're a smart one aren't you?" He said slightly impressed.

"Yes, yes I am. Not to brag, but I'm one of the top five smartest students in the country. But anyways, like I said, you can tell me what ever it is that's making you so emotional out of nowhere. Your expressions seemed to frequently change when we were talking earlier."

"Well, what do you expect? I could have sworn that I died, but..I-I don't remember how. I don't know what to think right now." He placed his hands on his head and groaned in frustration. Mai felt terrible. She understood completely. Why wouldn't he be emotional?

"I-I'm sorry. I understand" She said rubbing her arm and looking away.

"No. Don't be, it's not your fault." he said simply reaching to the top shelf and grabbing a wash cloth. Mai blushed.

"Yeah, I know I'm short." She said taking a drying towel from the bottom shelf. Mihael actually laughed a little bit.

"Which is why I called you 'short stuff' , but honestly, there's nothing wrong with being short. I find it very attractive on a girl." He said winking at her. A giggle escaped from Mai's lips. She couldn't help it. He was so...hot. But by the way he dressed, she would never have guessed that he liked girls.

"I don't mean to be rude" she started as she walked him to the bathroom. "But when I first saw you, I thought that you were...*clears throat* I thought you were...-"

"Homosexual? Yeah, I get that a lot. It really pisses me off when people just come out and ask me that though."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-'

"No, stop apologizing. You didn't even get to say it, but the truth is...I'm Bi."

'Oh..well that's not so bad. And thank goodness' Mai thought letting out a sigh. Mihael lifted an eyebrow and grimaced.

"That's not a problem is it?" His tone a little lower than before. Mai rapidly shook her head.

"No! Not at all. I have absolutely nothing against it." Mihael smiled.

"Good. Because other wise, we would have had a problem." Right when they reached the door, Mai turned back at him.

"You seem like you can be a very violent person at times."

He thought about that for a second. She was right. But his violent side only came out when necessary. He never actually enjoyed inflicting pain on others. That was just the way he was. He remembered that when he was a teenager and got in fights, he would always win, but he would always feel bad about it later.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" he finally said giving her a soft smile. Mai couldn't look away. He was so gorgeous when he wore a soft expression.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" she blurted out. She clapsed her hands over her mouth when she realized what she said. Mihael's soft smile turned into a wide grin. Like anyone, he loved complements. Especially ones about his appearance. He ran his finger through his soft hair and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Um...Thanks. And yeah, of course I know that. I used to tell myself that everyday." He went on. Mai rolled her eyes. This guy sure was full of himself, but he made it funny.

"What? You asked and I answered truthfully. Now I have to ask you. Do you know how beautiful you are?" Mai gasped. She knew it was foolish to do so, but no one had ever called her beautiful. Except for Naito, and that person that gave the cross necklace to her. But she had to not think of that right now. It was in the past.

"Thank you." She smiled up at him and opened the bathroom door for him. Mihael walked inside and glanced in several directions. The bathroom looked like one you would find in a hotel room. There was a porcelain double sink, dark marble counters, a glass shower (Which was huge) and a full length mirror on the wall.

"Nice huh?" Mai interrupted his thoughts. He nodded.

"Very." He said glancing back and flashing her another smile. Mai smiled back and walked over to the side of the shower to turn on the electric heater. She placed her hand in front of it until she felt a gust of heat blow out of it.

"Just so that you're not uncomfortable while you're showering in cool water.

Mihael nodded.

"Thank you...for all that you're doing."

"Of course. Don't worry about it."

"You know, I'm still beyond confused...but I realize that anyone could have found me, and who knows what they would have done...damn rapists" He shook his head at the thought. "Even though, I barely know you, I'm glad that you were the one to find me."

Mai's cheeks flushed and she looked down. Why did he have to be so damn cute? Then replayed his words in her head. He was wrong about one thing. No one else could have found him, if she hadn't saved him. He would've been nothing but ash.

"I'm glad that I found you too. My roommate Brooke has been out and about lately, so now I have someone to talk to." She smiled

"What the hell am I? A pile of crap?" Naito said behind her making her jump. '_Ugh! how long has he been standing there? And I meant someone to talk to who is human_.' she thought towards him.

"Yeah, I've been needing to talk to someone too." Mihael admitted. There was a long pause after that.

"Aaaaaawkward." Naito teased. Mai wanted to slap him in the face so badly, but she couldn't blow her cover. She wasn't ready to tell Mihael yet. She would tell him while she's explaining things to him. She heard him hiss and looked back up to him. He was making an attempt to take off his vest, but with all the scrapes and burns, it was pretty difficult. Ignoring Naito again, she slowly made her way over to him and ceased his hands. He looked down at her, his face twisted in slight pain.

"Can I help you?" She said not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable if she just started unzipping him out of the blue. He nodded and removed his fingers from the zipper. Mai nodded and exhaled before slipping her index finger through the loop of the zipper. Naito was right. This was awkward. She slowly descended her hand, bringing the zipper with it. She was trying her best not to touch his skin. When she reached the bottom of the zipper, unhooking it without touching his skin was difficult. She touched his lower stomach briefly and quickly looked up at him trying to be sure she didn't inflict any pain. He didn't seem to have gotten hurt, infact, he seemed to have a slight smile. Mai lifted an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked confused.

"It's just how careful you're being. You took forever to unzip it. I think I aged a whole nother year." He teased. Mai's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment.

"Well, forgive me for not want to make your injury worse." That made him laugh again.

"No, I'm sorry. It's just a little funny. The look on your face I mean. You look like you're concentrating so hard."

"I am!"

"Well, just relax. If you touch my skin, it's okay. The pain mainly comes when I try to bend my arms or walk. My stomach isn't such a big deal." Mai nodded.

"I'm sorry." Mihael rolled his eyes.

"And stop being sorry. You're helping me, and I really appreciate it. And usually I'm the kind of person that doesn't really show my appreciation. So, that means your doing a good job. Just stop being so afraid to touch me." Mai blushed deeper.

"O-Okay." She then slipped her hands into the sleeveless part of the vest and gently placed her hand on his shoulders. She quickly slid the vest down his arms and exhaled when it hit the floor.

"See? Now that wasn't so bad was it?" He said grinning. Mai returned the smile.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" she chuckled.

"Yeah, but you were more tense than I was."

"True" She said smiling and backing away. She bit her lip when she realized that he still needed to take his pants off. And they were leather, so that was going to be so much more difficult. Mihael noticed her expression and followed where her eyes were.

"Heh...you don't have to help me with this if you don't want to." he said pointing to the middle of his pants.

"Gah! Why do you have to point there? You couldn't point to a less embarrassing spot?" She said turning her back to him. This made Mihael break out laughing and his laughing made Mai jump. She turned her head to glare at him.

"You really are innocent aren't you? Don't worry, I'll do this myself so that I don't give you night mares okay?" He teased

"Grrrr. Stop messing with me! I don't like your tone. You're speaking to me like I'm a child!"

"Well, your reaction to something that small was pretty childish." he said still slightly laughing.

"That's it! I'll prove to you that it doesn't bother me!" Suddenly Mai was in front of him unbuckling his pants. Mihael's eyes widened not expecting that at all. He bit back a moan when he felt her touch a specific sensitive area (wink wink) Mai didn't seem to noticed that she had touched him there and continued her actions. When the buttons were undone, she grip the waist line of the pants and with all her strength, tugged down. Surprisingly she was able to pull them completely down with one forceful tug. She stood back up and put her hands on her hips.

"Ha! What about that?" Mihael looked down at her, his eyes still wide, she definitely had guts.

"Uh...first, OW!...second, OW!, and third...Fine I was wrong. Good job. Are you sure you did this to prove a point, or did you just do this because you wanted to see me without my pants?" He said in seductive tone. Mihael was a master at making Mai blush. He loved it.

"You are insane" She said walking away from him.

"I really do appreciate though. You know that?" Mai paused and glanced back. She was surprised to see him practically on her back. He gripped her shoulders and made her turn completely around to face him.

"If you don't, then I'll show you my appreciation." He then held her chin between his thumb and index finger and leaned in. Mai's eyes felt like they were going to pop right out and her breathing stopped. Mihael cracked his eyes open a saw her expression. He had to force himself not to laugh, and out of respect, he turned her face to the right so that his lips would land on her cheek instead. when he came in contact with her face, Mai let out a breath of relief.

"Yeah, you really are innocent. Sorry for kissing you earlier." He said , he actually had a light tint of pink on his cheeks. Mai placed a hand on his and removed it from her face.

"Thank you, for kissing my cheek. And don't worry about it. Maybe you can tell me about the person you thought it was that you were kissing." Mihael's smiled twitched downwards at the thought of Matt again.

"Y-yeah...maybe." He said forcing to keep the smile in place.

"Alright, well I'll leave to shower. I'll be waiting in the living room with some clothes for you. See you then." She said walking towards the door.

"M-Mai" he called before she was completely out the door. Mai turned, her eyebrows raised.

"Yes"

"Do me a favor, and call me Mello, okay?"

"Mello?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, that's what I've been called ever since I was twelve. It's sort of weird for me that someone is calling me by my real name now." mai nodded in understanding. She didn't question him she just went along with it.

"Alright, Mello" She smiled before turning a walking out the door again. She closed the door behind her. She waited until she heard the shower water running. She then smiled as she slowly raised her hand and placed it on the area that he kissed.

Mai then snapped out of it and looked around. Where was Naito? She shrugged to herself and decided she would talk to him after Mello was asleep tonight. Right now, she had to find some clothes for him. Mai walked and then turn left into Brooke's room. Brooke's brother had stayed with them for a while last month and when he moved out, he left some of his clothes behind. He was in the U.S now, so he wasn't going to need them. Mai felt on the wall, searching for the light switch. When she found it, she switched it on and glanced around the room. She walked over to her closet and opened the double doors. Brooke sure did have a lot of dresses and oh my God shoes. Mai didn't really like going shopping like most girls, most of the clothes she got were from Brooke. Brooke came from a rich family. Mai had met her when her and her parents moved to Italy and they instantly became friends. When Mai decided to move to Japan, Brooke came with. They'd been friends for years. That's the main reason she had a lot of clothes. Her parents still sent her money and she would always buys clothes for Mai. She knew her style. Goth lolita and punk. Brooke's style was completely different. She wore thigh length dresses, really colorful clothing, and wore a lot of accessories with her outfits.

Mai continued to search for the clothes. She found them hanging all the way in the back of the closet. She took the black short-sleeved v-neck of the hanger and placed it to the side. Then she went back to searching. She remembered he left a few different outfits here. Including underwear. She scrunched her nose up at the fact that she would have to touch them, but at least they were clean. She found them after a few seconds, along with a pair of jeans. Mai grabbed everything and tried to straighten everything out to make it look like she hadn't been searching in her room. She turned off all the lights and closed the door behind her.

She still heard the shower running. He sure was being thorough. When she reached the door, she knocked gently twice and cracked it open. There wasn't any steam nor was it warm, so he took her advise in using cool water.

"Mai?" Mello called, not hearing the knock on the door.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm leaving the clothes on the counter okay?"

"Thank you. I'll talk to you when I get out." Mai nodded, knowing that he couldn't see her, but that didn't mean she couldn't see him. The glass was blurred so she could see his whole curvy naked figure, but nothing too explicit.

"Alright. Like I said, I'll be in the front room." Mai left the bathroom with a deep red face.

She walked down the hall into the front room and saw Naito sitting on the couch waiting.

"Hey" He said smiling. "So, you havin' fun with your new boyfriend?" he said teasingly, but Mai could hear the slight jealousy in his tone.

"He's not my boyfriend. I'm just trying to be helpful." Naito gave her a look that said "yeah right"

"Oh, don't give me that look. I told you before, I don't have time for love." Naito nodded and waved his hand at her.

"Alright, alright. Chill yourself." Mai gave him a strange look. This guy is not the kind of shinigami that she expected. Mai rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen part of the room. Mello was probably hungry, what with being dead and all. Mai opened the refrigerator and frowned at how little they had. They really need to go grocery shopping.

"I wonder what he likes to eat. The only thing we have is leftover pasta and the chocolate cake that Brooke made for me." She said pulling out both. Now that she thought about it, she was pretty hungry too.

"Why did Brooke make you a cake?" Naito asked walking over to lean on the counter.

"Because I got an A on my English paper." She answered indifferently.

"But you always get A's...on everything."

"Yeah, but that last paper that I did, I felt a little uneasy turning it in."

"Why?" Naito asked moving closer to her. Mai turned to him and glared before answering.

"Oh, I don't know maybe because the day it was assigned, a shinigami dropped a notebook of death on my head and said that he was going to follow me until I died." she said sarcastically. Naito bursted out laughing.

"Oh yeah. Sorry."

"It doesn't matter, I wasn't as freaked out as I could've been." Naito nodded, agreeing with her. He also expected a more frightened reaction from her and was caught off guard when it wasn't.

"Anyways, I'll just let him have what ever he wants." She said gesturing towards the cake and pasta.

"You're making it seem like those are the only things that you have here. There's more in there." He said pointing in the refrigerator.

"Naito, those are ingredients. Not food...there's a difference."

"Well, I don't see it." Naito said shaking his head. Mai rolled her eyes again. That seemed to be her specialty. She put the pasta in the microwave and set it for two minutes. After that, she walked over to the dishwasher and pulled out two glasses. She went back to the refrigerator and pulled out a liter of soda and filled the cups near the rim. She handed the remainder of the soda to Naito. He loved soda, and anytime he and Mai were walking home from school, he would make her buy him one from the vending machine.

"But remember, when Mello comes in here, you have to leave because it will just look like a bottle floating in midair." Naito nodded at her demand and gave her a thumbs up.

"Wait a second...Mello? I thought his name was Mihael."

"Oh yeah, He said he wanted me to call him Mello because-"

"Mai...you in there?" She heard Mello's voice coming from down the hall. crap.

"Yeah! I'm here. Naito get out of here. G-go in my room okay?" Naito nodded and flew into the open door of her room.

"psssssst!" Naito whispered from her room. Mai looked at him with a panicked expression. Mello was almost in here. She saw Naito pointing at a familiar white case. 'My health kit!' she yelled mentally. She ran to retrieve it from Naito. When she closed the door and turned, Mello was right there. He had a towel over his darkened wet hair and the clothes fit him pretty well. She could she his stomach muscles through the dark shirt.

"Wow! You look...great." She commented. He really did. He looked relieved and at first glance, you didn't notice the cuts and burns. He seemed to have washed away all of the peeled skin.

"Thanks. I feel great." He said smiling at her and taking a few steps towards her.

"Oh! I heated up some pasta for you if you want." She said walking to the kitchen again. Mello stuck his hands in his pockets and followed close behind her.

"And if you don't want that, then I have chocolate cake here. My roommate made it for me, but I've only had one slice so far." She said gesturing towards the foods. But she noticed that Mello's face brightened up when she mentioned the cake. She smirked at his expression. She could have sworn she saw him drooling.

With all the investigation stuff going on, it had been so long since Mello had any chocolate. It was like a drug to him. He needed it. That was what kept him...Mello.

"Do you want me to cut you a slice-"

"Yes!" He answered quickly. Mai giggled.

"Chocoholic much?" She said nudging him and opening the drawer for a butter knife.

"Very much" he said smiling at her and leaning in the direction of the cake. Mai went to grab two dishes from the dishwasher. She walked back over to Mello and sliced a piece for both of them. She made Mello's piece huge.

He smiled at the size of it.

"Thanks" he said taking the plate.

"No problem. If you need anything, you can just tell me. Oh, and this is yours too." She said handing him the glass of rootbeer. He took it and waited for Mai to grab her things to walk over to the couch.

FIVE MINUTES LATER

"NO WAY...no way..." Mello exclaimed staring at her with wide eyes.

"See I told you that you would freak out. But I swear to you, I've never killed anyone with it."

Mai had told him about her having a Deathnote, about her bringing him back to life, about Takada being dead, and about everyone thinking he was dead (Since her shinigami put another body in the church, masquerading as Mello). She only mentioned it because he had told her that he was working on the Kira investigation and that he felt that he could trust her about the Deathnote information. Then it just kind of...slipped out.

"So I really did die" It wasn't a question. His heart was beating so fast and his eyes were wide and focused on Mai. Mai nodded slowly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You have a Deathnote...correct?" Mai nodded. "But have never used it." He just wanted to be clear. Mai nodded again. "Your shinigami also gave you this eraser that brings people back to life." Mai let out a laugh when she had to nod again.

"It's amazing how much we can discuss in only five minutes huh?" she chuckled, leaning into him. With a meloncholic expression, Mello nodded. For a second, just a second, he thought that there might have been a chance to bring Matt back, but Matt wasn't killed by the Deathnote. Just by Takada (That freakin' bitch's) body guards.

"Are you okay? Your expression just suddenly changed again." Mai asked concerned. Mello was about to lie and say yes, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He needed to talk to someone about Matt or he would be miserable for the remainder of his...new life.

"No, actually I'm not." He said, trying to hold back tears. His throat started to dry and become soar.

"It's about him isn't it? The one you thought you were kissing." Mello looked into her eyes apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Mai" Mai shook her head.

"Don't be...tell me about him. Let it all out. I'm here to listen." she said picking up her chocolate cake and taking a bite. Mello exhaled before talking to her again.

"Alright...well. I don't know where to start. There were so many special things about him." Mello said smiling to himself, thinking of their childhood. "We were best friends since he was twelve. I was thirteen at the time. Over time, we grew closer and it developed into something much more than that. We lived in an orphanage where they gave us aliases. No one there knew anyone's real name. But Matt and I knew each others." Mai smiled as she saw Mello's grow. "He was helping me with the Kira investigation for a few days ago." He paused. "But he was killed." Mai stopped breathing for a second and her lips parted, she couldn't take her eyes off of Mello's face. She wanted to look away, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable, but instead she put her plate down and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"I'm...I'm so sorry Mello" She muttered in his shoulder. She felt so bad and she wished that she could do something to make him feel better, but she couldn't think of anything that would help at the moment.

"Th-Thank you" Mello replied, leaning into Mai's embrace. It felt so nice to be held. Mai could hear that his voice cracked. He was crying.

"What was his real name?..You know what? forget I asked." she said quickly. '_Why did I just ask that?' _she thought, a little upset with herself. Mello released her and gently pushed her so that he could look at her.

"No...don't worry. I think I can handle saying his name." Mai gently smiled and picked up her glass of soda. She sipped slowly, the acid burning her throat a little.

"His name was...Mail" Suddenly at that moment, Mai nearly dropped her glass, but caught it quickly. Her eyes widened and she looked at Mello with the most frightened expression. _'...it couldn't be...it can't' _she said mentally. Mai cleared her throat and tried to compose herself.

"What was his.." her voice cracked and she took another quick sip. "What was his last name?" she asked as calm as she possibly could. He couldn't be talking about...

"His name was Mail Jeevas"

Mai, once again stopped breathing, but this was worse. She didn't even attempt to catch her glass. It fell and shattered on the wooden floor. She felt an ache in her stomach and chest. The acceleration of her heart beat hurt so badly that it helped the tears fill up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She couldn't believe it...This couldn't be real...

"MY BIG BROTHER IS DEAD? !"

* * *

**Okay now we're so sorry for updating so late. It was a lot of work to write this chapter, so I hope you liked it! The next chapter should be up soon. ^.^**

**Ps. 9shadowcat9 Beta'd this**


	4. Bulletproof Like Superman

**Hello, Hello, Hello! ^.^ We're so psyched that you guys like the story so far! Thanks so much for you kind reviews. We hope to get a lot more this chapter. Hope you like it, and Enjoy! ^^**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: Konichiwa, everyone! Alright, we don't own Death note because if we did..**

**Midnight: We would have killed Light AS SOON AS L died!**

**RubyR3d: Ooooh, that's a good one. And I agree completely! *giggles***

**Midnight: Alright, let's get on with the story.**

**RubyR3d: Hope ya like it! ^.^**

**22 hours ago**

* * *

"Move outta the way, dammit!" Matt yelled at the insanely slow driver in front of him. Takada's body guards were right on his tail, he didn't have time for this crap. He would have just crashed through the side of the car to get pass, but he noticed that the driver was an old woman. Matt, overall, was a pretty nice guy. He wasn't really a fighter and wasn't really all that violent, but a sure factor of him...was that he was reckless.

Matt sighed and abruptly jerked his arm to the left, turning the steering wheel. The car quickly slid to the left and then around the the old woman's car with a loud screeching noise.

Matt's goggle covered eyes flickered to his rear view mirror. Takada's guys soon ran into the same problem as he did. Matt chuckled and floored it.

He had pretty good space between any of the other cars in the street and was able to zoom past them with no issue.

"Thank you, Grand Theft Auto!" He laughed and jerked into another direction. This street didn't have any other cars in the way so he was free to swerve left and right. He only did this because he was expecting them to catch up to him and for there to be a sudden rain of bullets. Note: WHEN SOMEONE SHOOTS AT YOU, ALWAYS RUN/DRIVE IN A ZIG ZAG

"Damn. I gotta chill on the games, doing what I do in them in real life is going to get me killed. Starting now, I'm gonna stop...naaa!" He rolled his eyes at the thought and turned another corner. After a few seconds of driving on that street, Matt substituted his hands with his knees. (It's cooler than it sounds) He reached in his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. He placed one of his hands back on the steering wheel and used the other to open the box and take out a cigarette. After taking one out and placing between his lips, he tossed the box in the passenger seat. He went back in his pocket to take out a lighter. He lit the cigarette and tossed the lighter next to the box.

He was back to driving with two hands. He relaxed a bit after taking in a few breaths of smoke. It really took the edge off. Right when Matt started to relax, two more black police cars emerged unexpectedly from the ally.

"God, dammit!" Matt yelled picking up the speed again. "Mello, you are so lucky I love you! You owe me big time!" He said turning another corner trying to be careful of pedestrians. His mood suddenly changed at the thought of Mello. Because of what he said before they separated.

"It's most likely that I'll be killed today. There's no one else that can do this but me. I need your help Matt." Matt quoted his words and his voice broke at the end. Mello had also told him that he loved him, but he was afraid that he would break into tears if he quoted that. Ever since Matt saved Mello from that Mafia building that be blew up, all the feelings from their childhood had rushed back. He would do anything for Mello.

"This is the only thing that I didn't want to do for you." Matt thought aloud. Matt's thoughts were interrupted when he saw several headlights shining in front of him. His mind went back to what was important at the moment and put all thoughts of Mello at the back of his mind.

Matt quickly slammed down the brakes to avoid crashing into the police cars in front of him. The car swerved a few times before stopping in the middle of the street.

"Damn!" Matt cursed. He had forgotten that he was still being chased my Takada's other body guards. They had caught up to him, and he was ambushed. Matt lifted his goggles to wipe at his eyes in frustration. When he pulled them back down, he sighed, leaned and folded his arms on the steering wheel.

"So those cars got ahead of me huh? How many damn body guards does one woman need anyway?" He groaned. _'She's not worth protecting...she's not even hot_.' He added mentally. Matt looked back and forth through the side windows. The body guards were slowly beginning to get out of their vehicles. Matt stared at them in confusion. Why were they all getting out?

They answered his question by lifting up their guns. Every single one of them.

_'What the hell? These people are crazy. They can't just kill me...could they? No.' _"I should probably get out. Yeah, they can't kill me. Kidnaping doesn't have a death penalty. And besides, Mello wouldn't have asked me to do this if he knew it would kill me." Matt said to himself getting out of the car. But for some reason...that last part didn't seem too convincing to him. Matt got out of the car with his hands raised above his head. It was just an automatic thing.

"Hey, C'mon. Give me a break. Since when were the Japanese aloud to carry around such big guns?" Matt said loudly, looking in each of the body guards direction. ' _Holding up their guns just to try and scare me? Ha. Good luck.' _" You got me. I'm part of this whole kidnaping incident, that means you'll have a lot of questions to ask...you won't shoot-" And right there, unexpectedly, a rain of bullets fell down on Matt, definitely catching him off guard. Matt jerked backwards at every bullet that penetrated him. He could hear the bullets hitting the car too, which meant that every cop was shooting from every direction. They wanted to make sure that he would be killed. Matt let out choky gasp at the last few bullets that entered his legs and shoulder. Then everything was still. After a few seconds, Matt fell backwards on his car and his head hung downwards, not having the energy to hold it up anymore. His cigarette had also fallen. Matt could feel his blood soaking his clothes. He still had his eyes open...but barely. He was confused when he saw blood streaks running down the lens of his goggles. Had he been shot in the head? No..now that he thought about it, he could only feel the pain on the very very top of his forehead. The bullet only barely flew over his head, leaving a minor scar. The crazy thing was that the most painful thing...was that this meant Mello knew that this would occur. _'How could he...' _Matt thought weakly, and hurt. Matt slowly closed his eyes, but only from exhaustion. At the rate he was losing the blood, from his leg mainly, he was going to die for sure. Matt could hear the body guards driving away quickly.

"Wh..what idiots...cowards" Matt murmured and slowly beginning to grin. "Ts'a good thing...I have this... bullet proof vest." He panted trying to hold in a laugh. His grin disappeared suddenly. He was still hurt about Mello, but there wasn't much he could do about that at the moment. Actually...there wasn't much he could do about anything. Still, Matt couldn't help but not be angry with Mello. He was head over heels for him and only hoped that he was safe. Suddenly, Matt could hear people scream when they saw him.

"Is he dead?" Someone yelled.

"Of course idiot, didn't you see how any times he got shot?" said some one else. Then there were just random outbursts from people.

"Someone take a picture!"

"Dude touch it! Do it! Do it! I dare you! touch the corpse."

"Someone call an ambulance!" 'That's the first smart thing anyone of these idiots have said.' Matt thought getting annoyed. Not too much longer after that did Matt hear sirens growing closer. Matt cracked his eyes open slightly and he could see red and blue lights flashing over and over through his blood stained goggles. He quietly sighed in relief at the fact that he would be taken away from this annoying crowd. The position that he was in was so uncomfortable, but when he tried to shift, he felt as if he opened his wounds wider. He clenched his teeth at the pain. Matt usually was good at handling pain, but it was located in so many places. Even without moving, he could feel his clothes being weighed down by his blood. He was getting light headed and was drifting quickly. He wasn't going to make it.

Suddenly, an ear piercing screech came from behind. It was getting closer too Matt. Matt's heart started to accelerate as he heard it getting louder. It sounded as if it would crash right into Matt's car, but Matt still couldn't move. Fortunately, Matt saw that the car had swerved in front of his.

What the hell was going on? Matt watched through squinted eyes at the black car that had nearly collided with his. His eyes lids were getting heavier and heavier by the minute so when he saw a figure step out from the drivers side of the car, he couldn't make out any of the features. Matt gasped in surprise when he saw the figure run in his direction. It reached him and unexpectedly lifted him off of the car and carried (More like dragged) him towards the direction of the black car. He could hear the commotion of the crowd watching this and the police and paramedics yelling out to the figure. Matt was so confused. He didn't have the energy to speak anymore, so he couldn't ask the person to identify his/herself. The person placed Matt in the back seat of the car, slammed the door and ran back to the driver's side.

"Don't worry Matt. You're going to be alright, just hold on a little bit longer." A female voice said to Matt. Matt then noticed that his eyes were completely closed. The voice sounded very familiar for some reason. Matt didn't make a sound in response to what she said. He could then feel himself rolling backwards when the driver slammed her foot on the petal. The woman who had just taken him away, was speeding like hell. Matt rolled into a more comfortable position with his head rested against the car seat. He sighed weakly at the cool leather. He then lifted his right knee to his chest, flinching slightly at the stinging it caused, but tried to to ignore it as he placed his hand over the deep wound, hoping to slow the blood flow. He felt as if he may vomit from the dizziness and lightheadedness he was feeling, but he held it in not wanting to ruin the woman's car. Matt suddenly felt the car come to an abrupt halt and he jerked forward as it did so. The next thing he heard was the car door slam..at least that's what he thought he heard. It sounded so far away to him. He could feel himself slipping quickly. With each passing second, he was inching closer to his tragic death.

Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted once again and felt the bouncing of the person's walk. Was this the woman again? She was probably huge and muscular if she could carry him over her shoulder like this, was what Matt faintly thought to himself.

"Don't worry Matt, we're almost there." Said the woman "You're going to make it, hold on." Yes, this voice was definitely familiar, but when the face of who it could be came into Matt's mind, he thought there was no way she could pick him up like this . Matt managed to groan in acknowledgement of what she said. Seconds after feeling a gust of cool air, Matt heard the woman call out for someone.

"Gevanni! I've got him. Please hurry! He's losing blood fast." They must have been in a building now. Matt heard faint footsteps hurrying down a hall. When they sounded close enough he heard someone gasp.

"God dammit Lidner, look at you. You're a bloody mess." an out of breath male voice panted. _'Lidner!' _Matt yelled mentally. So it was her. Matt had remembered that Lidner used to go to the orphanage with he and Mello. Of course, her name is also an alias as theirs were. But what the hell was she doing in Japan? And how and why the hell was she saving him?

"I don't give a damn, just help me carry him to the medical room." Lidner nearly shouted at him. At that, Matt felt a new pair of hands supporting him along with Lidner's and they seemed to be partially running down the hall. Matt could see the brightness of ceiling lights through his eye lids as they traveled further into the unknown building. Matt groaned at the pain of the pressure they were putting on his wounds, but they didn't seem to hear. He later felt their speed walking slow and he through his eye lids, he noticed that the lights had dimmed.

"Place him there." Said a gentle familiar expressionless voice. Matt didn't even have to think to know who it was. He knew instantly. Matt felt himself being placed on something warm and soft. Overall, it was pretty comfortable, but he was once again laying on his shoulder wounds, which didn't help cease the pain. Matt could then feel the touch of cool fingers at either side of his face. He squeezed his eyes tight as he felt someone slowly lift his goggles over his head. There were so many sounds around him, he thought he was going to go crazy. He wished he had the energy to open his eyes so that he could see what was to come instead of being caught by surprised. Which he was when he felt a quick pressured swipe on his forehead.

"Gah!..wha..." Matt panted. All he heard after that was the same gentle voice from before.

"Gevanni, please test this for me. We need to know his blood type if we're giving him a blood transfusion, but first we need to clean and cover his wounds."

"Yes, sir" He heard the voice that belonged to the man named Gevanni, probably another alias. Matt then heard a quick shuffle and footsteps once again sprinting down the hall. Matt was so confused to how they found him, and why they were saving him. He hadn't seen them in over four years and on top of that, they were never friends. So why would they care?

There was a sudden conversation of whispers on the side of Matt. Matt strained to pick out some of the words.

"Does he know?" He heard Lidner whisper. Were they talking about him? What didn't he know? Matt tried to strain to hear more, but when he leaned in the direction of the murmurs, he once again hissed at the pain of tearing his wounds further. He could hear them freeze at his sound.

"We need to remove the bullets before we clean the wounds" he heard the calm male voice say followed by small footsteps growing closer. When the foot steps ceased, he heard shuffling above his head. A few knocks, and then a sound that sounded like air was slowly leaving a balloon. '_What the hell is he doing?' _Matt thought getting annoyed. If he had any strength, he would have punched upwards to get him away from him.

"It's been a while hasn't it?...Matt." said the boy. Matt groaned at him in annoyance, receiving a simple "hmph"

"Don't worry. You're not going to die, but you are going to be sleeping for quite a while." After that, Matt felt something being placed over his mouth and nose. By the time Matt realized what it was, it was too late to react. He could feel himself slipping further. Matt then, with all his strength tried to force his eyes open, just a little. He realized how ridiculous it was, but he was actually very curious to see what the boy looked like after all these years. Matt surprisingly managed to open his eyes partially. Suddenly, his vision focused on a white-haired, pale, young boy with shockingly beautiful gray eyes looking down at him. Were his eyes always that way? The boy gave Matt a small smile in amusement from Matt forcing his eyes open. Matt couldn't help but smile himself at his actions before letting his eye lids droop down again.

"Thank you...Near." Matt breathed with his last bit of strength and slowly fell into a deep slumber.

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**Alright, I know that was short, but still. Isn't the fact that Matt is alive TEN TIMES BETTER? MATT FANGURLS UNITE! lol**

**Sorry it took so long to update. Hope you're not angry with me ^^ I'm excited to write the next chapter now, so it should be up soon. Please Review! Can I get at least 4-5 plz? It will make me sooo happy ^^**


	5. Sneaky

**Hey there guys, again I'm so sorry it took so long to update. My chapter was erased so I had to start over. Here's a short chapter of what to expect in the future ones ^.^**

**MINISODE SEMI-FILLER**

**(The Day before Mai's Encounter with Mello)**

"C'mon Brooke! This isn't easy for me either. I'm dying to get out of here as much as you are."

"Oh, I highly doubt that" Brooke muttered into the purchasing counter. It had been a long and rather annoying day, what with being on her feet the whole time. Brooke worked at the most popular plush toy store in town, _Kawaii Plush_. Each day had its ups and downs, but recently, they had been getting an unusual amount of 'one of a kind' plush dolls to be made. Overall, Brooke liked her job, but the last couple of days were starting to get on her nerves. And she wasn't the only one starting to notice how odd these orders were getting. According to her co-workers that usually do the delivering; each unique order went to the same place. Every now and then Brooke would listen in on their conversations and hear them chatting about it. Apparently, each order went to this huge business building and usually the person that meets them in the lobby is someone who looks very professional and is always wearing a suit. Knowing this made Brooke question why people like that would be ordering toys like _this._ Brooke snapped out of her half sleep trance when an earsplitting bang erupted a few inches from where she was resting her head on the counter. She immediately sat up startled and saw that her boss had dropped a large box not too far from her. Brooke glared up at her superior, obviously not in the mood to be messed with. Her glare was countered with a suspicious smile and Brooke read it perfectly.

"Oh, God…don't tell me you're gonna make me-"

"Yup, I need you to deliver this last box and then you're done." She finished her thoughts. Brooke groaned and slumped over the counter again.

"Can't you have someone do it tomorrow? I'm not even a delivery person."

"Look, this delivery is already running late and the building is right around the corner" Again, Brooke sat up quickly. It was going to that building again. Honestly, Brooke was a little curious to see this oh so mysterious plushy loving business for herself, so it gave her an excuse to give in to her boss' orders.

XxX

"Be careful getting home Brooke, I heard the streets are crazy tonight! And thanks so much I really appreciate the favor" Brooke heard her boss call from behind her. She gave a simple wave back and continued to head for the package's destination. _"Be careful" _Brooke thought about her boss's words. She knew she was probably talking about all the chaos that's going on because of Takada's kidnapping. She wasn't too worried about getting caught up in it. There was a good amount of distance between her and where it was actually taking place.

Brooke walked for about 5 minutes until she eventually came to a huge business building; as it was described several times by her co-workers. Now that she thought about it, this wasn't the first time she had seen this building. She just hadn't paid much attention to it before. By the time she got close enough to the building, where if she looked up, it'd look as if it were tipping, she realized that she was in the back. She sighed in annoyance, the last thing she wanted to do was more walking. She already had to walk back home.

"Ah, well" She sighed and began to head for the front of the building when a sudden screech of tires turned her attention to her distant left. The first thing she saw were blinding head lights of a car rushing in her direction. Brooke followed her first instinct and ran out of its sight behind a dumpster. She placed her hands on her knees panting.

"Please tell me they didn't see me, please…" She begged quietly. If this had to do with Takada's kidnapping, the fact that she ran would only make the situation worse, so she begged that she hadn't been seen. Her heart was beating so fast and hard, she could feel it in her throat. She tried to calm herself down with taking deep breathes, but it showed little results in doing so. She heard the car come to a loud stop and waited more than six minutes to peek from behind the dumpster. She could have sworn she heard murmurs a few minutes ago, but she didn't want to take the chance of being caught. When she carefully peeked from behind the dumpster, she saw a black car parked with the door wide open. That wasn't the only thing that was open though. When Brooke shot her eyes back to the building, she saw light spilling from a back door of the building.

Now a normal smart person would leave the box where it was and hurry home as fast as they could, but Brooke is a very curious and occasionally reckless person. She took a deep breath, picked up the box now realizing that she had dropped it, and began walking towards the open entrance. She took her time getting to the door, but when she finally reached it, he made no hesitation to peek inside. She slowly eased herself into the door and left it cracked the way it was when she was outside. The inside of the building was quite chilly and very well lit. It wasn't what she was expecting. She saw that there were a few couches and love seats pushed against the walls, a long desk with few contents atop, some plants, no windows and a coffee table. It was kind of like a mini lobby. She turned her head in the direction of the hall in front of her after hearing another few murmurs. She knew that it would be rude to just wander around their building aimlessly without their knowing about it. It was trespassing, but if she just stood there, who knows when she'd be discovered. Brooke took another breath before slowly walking down the hall. She stopped when she heard people talking in low voices at the first door she came to.

"We need to remove the bullets before we clean the wounds" she heard a monotone male say from behind the door.

"Bullets?.." She whispered quietly. What the hell kind of people were they? Brooke couldn't take it anymore; she just decided that she was going to leave even though she needed _someone _to sign for the box. As reckless as she was, this was a little too much. She quietly set the box down and turned to sneak back down the hall when she was stopped by a demanding male voice.

"Don't move! Who are you?" he demanded. Brooke turned slowly to face a tall gentleman with short black hair who was also wearing a suit. Yup...definitely the place. Something in the man's hand caught her eye. It looked like a small tube with a small amount of blood running down the inside. Brooke held her hands up in defense with wide eyes. There was a knot in her throat and she couldn't answer right away. '_These people were _not_ normal._'

"I said" He took a step towards her "Who _are_ you."

"M-my name is B-Brooke Cancilla…I-I work at the plush store down the street. I-I had to deliver this package tonight…I really didn't want to. I swear I didn't hear anything..p-please forgive me. I swear I was only doing my job" That and a little bit of eavesdropping. Brooke didn't understand the feeling that she was getting, but she wouldn't exactly call it fear. It was more like a rush of adrenaline. To her relief, the man's expression softened and he walked over to Brooke. '_Who the hell are these people? A-And why the hell would they be ordering toys?_" she said mentally. He placed the tube in his dress pants pocket and he suddenly unbuttoned Brooke's coat and made her face the wall.

"Ah! Wh-what are you doing?" She knew he was probably going to frisk her, but she noticed that he stopped when he saw that she was still in her uniform.

"Alright" He breathed and let Brooke turn back around. "Where is the package?" Brooke glared at him for a second but then pointed to the direction of where she sat the box down. When Brooke looked that way, the box was no longer on the floor, but in its place, there was a medium sized, very pale, but still strangely handsome boy with stunning gray eyes. His hair was so white that on anyone else, it would have looked unnatural, but it suited him perfectly. He still looked like a teenager, but then again, so did Brooke and she just turned twenty one. The male had a calm expression and Brooke had just noticed that he was holding the package.

"N-Near" The raven-haired man said to the boy. '_Near? Is that his name?_' She thought.

"Gevanni...have you tested the sample yet?" Translation: Leave this to me and do what I told you to do. The man named Gevanni stepped away from Brooke and nodded towards the pale male.

"I'll do it immediately, Sir." '_Sir? This kid looks at least ten years younger than he does….who the hell _are_ these people?_' Brooke said mentally. Gevannni began running past Near and eventually vanished into another room down the hall. Brooke slowly shifted her eyes in Near's direction and she got an uncomfortable knot in her stomach when she saw he was staring directly at her.

"I um…I apologize for-"

"There's no need to apologize. You said it yourself didn't you? You were only doing your job, though I would have waited in the lobby instead of walking down the halls. That only makes you look suspicious." His voice was so gentle, cool, and she detected a hint of seductiveness to it, but she knew he probably wasn't aware of it.

"..Yes..well." Brooke cleared her throat "I-I need you to sign for the package..if you don't mind." Brooke wasn't sure why talking to this guy was making her nervous. He didn't seem upset from her eavesdropping, and he didn't give her any cold looks so why was she feeling this way? It was weird and slightly irritating to her. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Alright" He said and held out his hand to her. It took her a second to realize he was asking for a pen. Just for a second, she thought he was asking for _her_ hand. (Brooke has her slow moments)She blushed at the thought and reached in her coat pocket for a pen, trying to hide her face. She wasn't good at hiding her blush and it was visible to Near. He didn't say a word about it, but for a second his expression was questioning. Brooke looked back up at him, her blush even brighter now.

"I'm sorry..I don't have a pen with me." She chuckled awkwardly. Near put his arm down to his side and exhaled, then he simply walked pass Brooke in the direction of the lobby. She could have sworn she felt her heart skip when he brushed pass her. '_No no no! He's a kid! Snap out of it, you idiot!_' She yelled at herself mentally. It took her a few seconds to turn and follow him down the hall. When she reached the opening of the lobby yet again, she saw that he was leaned over the desk slightly. She walked closer and saw that he was reading the notice clipped on the clip board attached to the package. '_Ah..so he's one of _those _people then. No one actually reads that thing. They just sign and get on with their lives_.' Brooke didn't comment and waited for him to finish reading, but while she waited, something on the desk caught her eye.

"Woah..is that the new 5 by 5 rubics cube?" She asked, her tone more lively. Brooke may not have been as smart as Mai, but she was right behind her in the intelligence category. She loved challenges. Throughout her life she had been able to put pieces of unknown situations together. And even though at times Brooke has her slow moments, things rarely get past her. Near eyed the rubics cube.

"Well, I wouldn't call it new." He said simply. Brooke shrugged.

"Well, new to me at least. I've been wanting to solve one for a while now." At that, Near picked up the rubics cube, scrambled it until he felt that it was enough of a challenge to solve. Then he handed in to her.

"Give it a try." He said gently and continued to read. Brooke was completely oblivious to how deeply she was blushing right now, but she started on it as soon as he handed to her. Near flipped to the third page of the packet after about two minutes. As he read on, he saw Brookes hand in the corner of his eye place the rubics cube right next to the package. She had solved it. Near looked the rubics cube over without touching it and glanced at Brooke. She had a bright smile on her face with a hint of cockiness to it. Near gave a small smirk and stood up straight flipping the packet back to the first page.

"Impressive" signing his name with the pen he found on the desk. Brooke smiled wider to the point where her cheeks were starting to hurt. She knew she probably looked ridiculous and tried to control her facial expression. She shrugged trying to make it seem like it wasn't such a big deal.

"Thanks. I like solving puzzle though. When you're doing things that you like, it tends to be easier for you to do it. I know this is random to just say to someone I just met, but..I really want to become a detective one day." She chuckled a bit. "'I think I would be really good at it, but I know that dream is pretty far off right now" She said picking up the rubics cube again and looking down at it. Near's smirk turned into a full out smile. (You know the smile he does occasionally ^^)

"Hmm…who knows? You may be closer to that career than you think." Brook's face brightened as she looked up at him again. It was nice to hear someone say that.

"Thank you" She smiled warmly at him and dethatched the clip board from the package. "Well I've gotta be getting home. It was nice meeting you ..Near." She said handing him the rubic cube. Near grimaced and looked at the cube for a second before shaking his head.

"Keep it. Practice your puzzle solving." He said while he picked up the package, turned and began walking down the hallway. "Take care." Brooke stared after him, her face yet again bright red. She looked down at the rubics cube a smiled. _'He's so…different_' She thought before placing the clip board in her bag and walking outside. She made sure the door was closed before walking away from the building and into the parking lot. After she reached the side walk, she started taking the usual route home. She suddenly scrambled the rubics cube again and this time, she took her time solving it as she walked home.

**Well, that was the mini chapter ^^ What do you think? I know I know, I took FOR EVER But I'm already working on the MAIN chapters again so don't fret there's a lot more to come. Please review! ^.^**


	6. Relations

**Okay I wrote about half of this chapter, but I didn't like it so I had to redo it. Sorry I'm taking so long with this, but I swear to you, this story is going to be a long and sort of puzzle-like story. I really think that if you like it so far, you're going to love what's to come. Now since I can only pick two characters for what this story is about (You know what I'm talking about ^^) I'm going to write up here what the story is involving. Right now it says it's about Mello, but as you can see, I added my OCs, Near and Matt. Lets see what else is to come ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, oh how I wish I did**

* * *

Today..just wasn't a good day. It was a day of stress, sadness, confusion, and guilt. The weather surely fit. It was dark and storming now, but even with the thunder Mello could still hear Mai's muffled cries coming from down the hall. He couldn't blame her for reacting the way she did. Who wouldn't? They both lost someone important to them. All of the pain from seeing that Matt was killed had returned and it was unbearable. Mello squeezed his eyes shut trying to fight his tears and buried his face in his palms as if he were trying to push the thoughts away. He sucked in a few breaths through his teeth trying to calm himself. Everything that he found out was just too much to process from the shock of it all. How in hell did Matt have a sister? He figured he would have mentioned her at least once within the years of them knowing each other. He hadn't shown the slightest sign of knowing anyone else at the orphanage. Mello exhaled loudly before raising his head and focusing his eyes on the ceiling.

"Matt..." He murmured. Suddenly a noise down the hall caused him to jump. He then realized that he hadn't heard Mai's cries in during his thoughts. She must have cried herself dry. He stood slowly facing the hall when he heard soft footsteps growing closer. Soon enough, Mai's form came into view. Her head remained pointed downwards while Mello took a few steps in her direction. When he looked at her hands, he saw that there were black stains smeared from her index finger to the base of her thumb. She must have wiped off her eye liner. Soon enough, when she raised her head, Mello could see that he was right. Even though her hair clung to her damp face he could see her swollen and red dark stained eyes through the red strands. He could hear that she was trying to control her breathing.

"I-I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I didn't mean to run. It was just.." Her voice was so broken. Mello raised his hand to stop her from continuing.

"Stop apologizing." He said. Mello wasn't the best person to go to when you needed comfort. He wasn't really sure what else to say so instead, he just asked a question.

"How can you be Mat-Mail's sister? He would have told me if he had one." Mai was shaking her head before Mello even finished his statement.

"Mail didn't tell anyone about me. He's was a really good actor." It looked like she was smiling to herself at the thought, but it still wasn't that visible through her hair. Mello knitted his brows.

"Why? Was he embarrassed by you?" See? Not the best comforter. Mai shot her eyes at him and glared through her crimson strands.

"No he wasn't...it..it's complicated." She breathed. She pressed her fingertips to her swollen eyes. They were becoming sore.

"Everything has been complicated." Mello rolled his eyes in frustration. He was trying to be patient but he wanted answers, he needed answers. When his eyes shifted back to Mai, she looked as if she would burst into tears again. Mello exhaled loudly almost causing Mai to jump.

"Look, why don't you go take a cool shower. It'll probably make you feel better. When you get out, you can tell me how all of this is possible." Mello moved his hands in a circular motion towards her to show what he meant by "All of this". Mai didn't say a word, she barley nodded, turned on her heals and went straight down the hall. Mello let out another frustrated sign and turned to walk back over to the couch. When he sat down, he turned his head towards the balcony just in time to catch a zigzag trail of lightning in the sky. It looked like it was only one of those brief storms that happen randomly. The rain was lighting up along with the sky. The rushing sound of water from the shower filled the hall way and Mello sighed in relief that she took his advise. He figured he probably had about 10 or 15 minutes until she came out so he decided to occupy himself with TV. He reached for the remote and clicked on the TV set. Immediately after the screen brightened, Mello turned to NHN News 7. His timing couldn't have been more perfect.

"It is with great sorrow that I must announce the passing of one of our very own colleagues. The police have identified one of the bodies found at the scene as NHN's Ms. Kiyomi Takada. A two ton truck and a motorcycle were also found in the ruins of the burned out church. Investigators suspect gasoline was used to start the fire."

That concluded the broadcast. Mello had already stood staring with wide eyes at the TV set midway into the broadcast. How could they have found another body when he and Takada were the only ones there?

Naito had been glaring ruefully at the back of Mello's head for a while now. He shouldn't have found a replacement body for him. He couldn't even remember why it was that he did it in the first place. Naito then had sudden idea. He made his way over to Mai's school bag and took out the Death Note. He opened and tore a corner of the first page. He waited until Mello sat back down on the couch deep in thought to walk and sit right beside him. Then he simply shifted slightly and gently tapped him on the shoulder with the torn paper. It only took an instant for Naito to become visible.

"Wh-What the hell!." Mello exclaimed jumping off the couch for the third time today. Naito only smirked at him. Mello was only startled for a second, and immediately he calmed himself. This annoyed Naito. He expected his reaction to be a little more freaked. He reacted the same as Mai. What is with these humans? Mello let out a simple "Hmph" and closed his eyes.

"Huh...I was wondering where Mai's Shinigami was. Since Shinigami are supposed to be attached to the human with the Death Note, I thought she would have at least mentioned you once." He said. His tone almost sounded like a tease. Naito glared and jumped up but he made himself hover a foot higher making him look like the dominant one. He struggled to find words to say.

"H-How could you've possibly known all of that?" He demanded. Mello shrugged and half opened his eyes.

"Believe it or not, but you're not the first Shinigami I've met. I know everything about the Death Note. It just caught me off guard that someone like Mai would have one." Mello sat down again perfectly at ease. Naito was trying his best to stay angry at him but anger to too much energy if you can believe it. Naito finally exhaled and gave up and took a seat next to Mello, but there was a fair amount of distance between them.

"I hear that." He groaned. "She doesn't even use it. It pisses me off sometimes, but I can't force her to so I try not to let it bother me." Naito placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. When the sudden silence in the room became awkward, he opened his eyes in slits and eyed Mello. To his surprise, he was staring right in his face. His eyes opened fully right then and gave Mello a weirded out look.

"What?" He asked. Mello stared for a few more seconds ebfore answering. He looked as though he were concentrating.

"You look strangely familiar to me..." He said softly. Naito raised his eyebrows.

"Oh?" Mello nodded.

"But..I'm certain this is the first time I've seen you. You just look like someone I used to know." And at that, Mello was silent. The only sound that could be heard, was the running water coming from the bathroom that cut off only a few seconds after. Naito didn't respond to Mello's statement. He just shrugged and closed his eyes again. Not long after did the two hear the bathroom door open. Mai's form then reappeared from the hallway, but neither of them turned because neither of them heard her footsteps this time. They only reacted when she stepped in front of them. Naito opened his eyes and they widened in an instant.

"Well, you look nice" He said with a wide grin. Mello gave a small smirk.

"Yes, you do look a lot better than before." He added. Mai's hair was soaked and wavy clinging to her neck and a bit of her shoulder. She didn't look dead anymore and the swelling of her eyes had gone down, but you could still see in her face that she was grieving. She had replaced her smudged eyeliner with a new layer. She was wearing a simple black tank top with matching Yoga shorts and her feet were bare which would probably explain why they didn't hear her coming this time. She gave them a small smile.

"Thanks I feel a lo- Wait!...did you just...agree with..him." She said pointing to Naito. Mello glanced at Naito with a smirk then returned his gaze to her and nodded. Mai shook her head slightly.

"B-But how?"

"I took it upon myself to introduce myself to your new friend properly...Which I still haven't done yet." He said standing and bowing to Mello as if he had just performed a play. "My name is Naito, and as you already know, I am Mai's Shinigami.". Mai glared at him.

"You idiot! Why would you do that?"

"Relax, you had already told him about the notebook. it shouldn't matter if he sees the Shinigami it used to belong to. And besides, according to him, I'm not the first Shinigami he's seen." Mai looked back at Mello, her eyebrows raised.

"Really?" Mello nodded.

"During the Kira Case, we came in contact with a Shinigami named Sidoh. The information he gave us was surprising helpful." Both of them were caught off guard by Naito's loud chuckle.

"Hah!..Sidoh. That moron. He's a bad excuse for a Shinigami. Dude can't even hold on to his own notebook." He said shaking his head.

"Oh so you know him." Mello spoke.

"Unfortunately yes. I know pretty much every Shinigami in the Shinigami Realm, not that any of them are worth knowing." He scoffed. Mai rolled her eyes and took a seat between the two. She took a deep breath before her next statement.

"Alright...you want to know about me and Mai-Matt." it wasn't a question.

"It sure would help clear things up if you did, yes." Mello responded. Naito let out a loud sigh and stood.

"I need to go out for a bit. I'll catch on sooner or later." He said walking towards the balcony and opening the door.

"W-wait!" Mai said looking in Naito's direction. "What could you possibly going out to do? No one or thing can see you." Naito glanced at her with his breathtaking crimson eyes and smiled.

"Tell ya what. You mind your business, I mind mine." The last thing she saw was Naito wink, sprout his wings and fly off the balcony. She stared with her lips parted. Why did his mood just change? He had never said anything like that to her before. Mai shook it off and tried to focus her mind on Matt. Mello was silent, simply waiting for her to begin.

"Okay..like I said. It's a little complicated."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I won't interrupt, just go." Mello tried to calm his tone and make it sound less harsh.

" My full name is Mai Clara Jeevas. Matt and I went to Whammy's house as well. It took me a while, but I understand what orphanage you were talking about. We were born and raised in Scotland so we were pretty close to it."

"Wait a second." Mello interrupted, even after he had just said that he wouldn't. But Mai didn't say anything about it. It was normal to want to ask questions in this situation.

"If you and Matt were born in Scotland..why do you have a name with Japanese origin?" He asked gently. Mai let out a small laugh, for that had been asked before.

" Heh..our father was Japanese." Mello's eyebrows rose in understanding and he nodded.

"Yeah, our mother always said how alike we were. Which is part of the reason why our names are just one letter off of being the same. I was nine when our parents were murdered. Matt was twelve. The scary thing is that we were almost killed along with them. All of us were returning from the movies. We lived in an apartment and we always raced up the stairs together. We let our parents go upstairs first so that it wouldn't slow us down. What we didn't expect when we got upstairs was to find our parents dead. Of all the apartments in the building, ours was the one that those..." A knot began to form in her throat at the painful memory. Mello's eyes were glued to her face watching each sudden change in her expression. He could only imagine how Matt felt.

"Long story short, someone had broken into our apartment, probably panicked when our parents walked in, and shot them both...I don't want to get into too much detail. Anyways, the next day...we stayed with a social worker until they found a home for us. I remember not knowing how to react to anything. I couldn't cry, hell I couldn't even tell if I was sad. It took a while for my emotions to spill out." Mai's eyes were glued to her hands. He expression blank as she continued. She cleared her throat. " The day after that...we met Roger and he took us to Whammy's. The reason why you didn't know or hear about me is because Matt kept our relation a secret. As you probably know..Matt didn't really have a good reputation. He began smoking at age twelve and most of the kids there looked down on him. I have a bad history of being bullied when I was young. Matt didn't want me to be bullied there too just because I had a brother that smoked, so he thought it would be best if he kept me a secret. We didn't completely avoid each other though. He came to my room from time to time when my roommate was gone." Mai decided to take a break from talking just incase Mello had any questions. Mello was staring off into space, processing everything that she had said.

"I'm gonna get some water, did you want some?" Mello shook his head.

"No, I'm fine.." With that, Mai turned and headed for the kitchen. She opened the dishwasher and pulled out a glass. She filled the cup to the rim and sipped it down enough so that it wouldn't spill when she moved. When she turned, she almost dropped the cup from shock. Mello was right there. His head was tilted downwards.

"Mai...I'm sorry." He mumbled. Mai gave him a confused look and then smiled.

"Mello..it's alright. You don't have to apologize to me." She repeated his words. "It happened, it's over. It was a long time ago when we were separated. It's just...knowing that he's dead now and how close we were to seeing each other again...I'll never see him again. I-it hurts." Her voice threatened to crack, but she held her composure.

"I lost my parents too." He said suddenly. "It's not something I like to talk about." Mai stopped him.

"You don't have to tell me. I understand." She said walking to the couch again. She tugged on his shirt in a gesture that told him to join her. He followed without a word taking a seat next to her.

"I was adopted." She stated. He turned his head in her direction.

"I figured that would be the reason." He murmured.

"Hmm...Matt thought it would be better if I got adopted. Even with people not knowing about our relation. I was picked on." Mai broke out in a laugh startling Mello.

"I-I remember this one time where this kid pushed me off the swing at the mini playground in Whammy's." Mello looked at her like she was insane.

"And exactly how the hell is that funny?" Mai smiled.

"The fact that I got pushed off the swing wasn't funny. It's what Matt did, when it happened. After helping me up, he walked over to the boy and said "What did the five knuckles say to the face?" He was so confused. When he said What? Matt punched him so hard in the face that I'm surprised he didn't have a brain aneurism." He snorted causing Mello to chuckle. That sounded like something would say.

"Sorry..heh. That memory had just jumped into my head. But anyways, when I was adopted, we moved to Italy. Before I left...I told Matt that I would be in Japan by the time we found each other again. I've always planned on studying in Japan." She explained. "I'm almost finished with college here."

"Oh really?..I thought you said you were 17 years old." Mai nodded.

"I am..but remember I went to Whammy's." She gave a cocky smirk. "Within a few months of being there, I was ranked number 7." Mello chuckled and folded his arms.

"Yeah, that's cool and all, but I was ranked number 2" He grinned, Mai rolled her eyes, grabbed a sofa pillow and hit him with it playfully.

"Oh whatever." She giggled. She jumped when Mello hissed in pain.

"I'm sorry!...Damn, I keep forgetting to treat your scars...I'm so sorry." Mello waved his hands at her.

"It's fine." His mind had been so occupied with thought about Matt and Mai's relation, he almost forgot about his injuries.

"Here, I'll do it now." She said grabbing the first aid kit she had set down earlier. "They're mainly on your shoulders and arms right?...um..you're gonna have to..." Mai's cheeks flushed a light pink. "Take off your-" Mai didn't even have to finish her sentence. He was already removing his shirt. Her eyes widened, but she calmed herself quickly. She heard him catch his breath every few seconds as he was inching up his shirt slowly, trying to avoid any further pain. Mai watched until she couldn't take it anymore. She felt really bad that he could barely take his clothes off without help.

"Here, I'll help you."

"Uh..you don't have to.-"

"No, I want to" She smiled. She gripped the edges of his shirt and raised it until his blue eyes dissapeared under the fabric. The both of them were so focused on avoiding any pain towards Mello that neither of them heard keys rattling outside of the apartment door. They didn't realize someone was coming in until the door flung open.

"Damn! I forgot my umbrella today..Hey Mai I'm ho- WHAT THE HELL?" Brooke yelled when he eyes narrowed in on the misunderstood action on the couch. Mai yelped at the sound of her friends voice behind her.

"B-Brooke! Oh, my God...please calm down..it's not what it looks like." She assured her. Brooke lifted an eyebrow and dropped a few grocery bags on the floor.

"Oh, really? It looks I walked in on you about to get busy...Hello guy with the shirt over his head." Brooke said waving at Mello, even though she knew he probably couldn't see her.

"Yeah..what's up." Mello muttered from under the fabric. Mai could tell he was embarrassed as well, but a shirt over his head, hiding him from the scene made it less uncomfortable than it could have been. Mai stood and faced Brooke.

"I can explain.." She said with her head down. Brooke used her foot to close the door without having to look away from her friend.

"Ya..that would be nice."

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**Alright, that was our chapter ^^ What do you think? Sorry if this chapter wasn't as well written as the others, but I tried my best. I'm really excited to write the next chapter. I've already started so I think I can get it done this week :D Anyways, please review and see you next time! ^.^**


	7. Puzzle

**Aww I think I lost some readers from how little reviews I got. I know I waited too long to update . I'm sorry. I'll try to keep the updates reasonable from now on alright? Please enjoy this chapter ^^ I know I had a fun time writing it.**

**Oh and just so ya know, I made some changes in chapter 2 regarding how the death eraser works.**

**I just recently found out that there actually WAS a death eraser and that there were rules...but this is a fanfic so I'll make up my own Death eraser rules ^.^ You can find them at the bottom of this page at the end of this chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note...If I did, it would still be going on ^.^**

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His eyes barely opened. The light above him was way too intense to open them fully. Matt strained to turn his head away from the light. At the moment, his mind was clouded and he couldn't quite remember where he was. He attempted to bring his hand to his face to clear the blurriness from his eyes, but the moment his arm muscles tensed, all of the pain and images from the night before rushed back to him. He hissed in pain sucked in a few breaths through his teeth.

"Damn.." he groaned quietly, afraid that if he said it any louder it would cause more pain.

"Welcome back." Said that familiar monotone voice from the other side of the room. Matt's eyes opened entirely and shot their attention to the pale figure in the corner of the room. Seeing him standing there even after hearing his voice startled him and caused him to jerk upwards. Right then an earsplitting yell filled the room. Near quickly stood, placed the packet of papers he was previously reading and walked over to him. He reached above the medical bed in one of the cabinets. Matt's eyes were squeezed shut again, the pain of his wounds still throbbing. He could hear Near's hands shuffling above him. He was in so much pain at the moment that he couldn't tell what he was doing nor did he care. The pain was just too much.

"Don't move." He heard Near whisper, his voice closer now. Matt peeked up through his eyelashes to see Near glancing down over him. His gray eyes were so defined, clear and piercing. His skin was still paler the the average person but it looked as though he had gotten a little more color than when he last saw him and it looked so smooth. The angle he was bent over Matt caused his hair to slightly drape over his eyes giving him a mysterious look. Matt felt his heart momentarily come to a halt. When did Near get so...attractive? Even saying this mentally, that word still sounded like too much of an understatement. A sharp pain in his left arm snapped him out of his thoughts. Matt let out a grunt that cut short when he saw Near's hand hovering over him. Matt knew he was trying to keep him from moving so he was able to keep still momentarily. Strangely, a part of Matt wanted Near to touch him. He strained to look down at his arm. Near had injected him with something. When he glanced up at him again, Near was already beginning to walk around the bed to do his other arm.

"H-How do you know how to do all this?" He mumbled, watching as Near carefully injected his other arm. Near disposed of the syringe and his latex gloves before answering. He sighed and leaned against the counter.

" Well, when you're in the investigation profession you see this kind of thing almost everyday. Not only that, but you see how people treat these injuries. It's been years Matt. I could join a medical profession if I wanted...Your upper body should start to numb in a few seconds." He pushed himself away from the counter and walked over to the small sized closet across the room. Matt was already starting to feel the injection take affect and he was able to relax. The pain had temporarily subsided. Near pulled out a folded wheelchair and walked it over to the medical bed.

"Until you feel well enough to get up, I'll keep this here." He said gently "It's a good thing you had a bullet proof vest. Otherwise, you would have died." He pointed to the mutilated vest across the room. Suddenly Matt's eyes widen and his head shifted from left to right. What with all the danger and the investigation going on, he had completely forgotten.

" Hmm...looking for this?" Near said showing Matt the packet he was reading while he was unconscious. Matt's eyes narrowed in on the page.

"H-how did you..?"

"It was in the inside pocket of the vest." He said sitting down and flipping through the pages. "Mello wrote this, correct?" He glanced up at him through his pale locks. A lump grew in Matt's throat from the memory of Mello, but he managed to nod. Mello had given the pages to him to keep in a safe place. He remembered saying that as much as he hated the idea, the safest place may be with Near. Matt had planned on reading them, but the time never seemed right.

"When did he write this?" He asked. Matt exhaled.

"When he was in his state of depression. That was when he..." It was difficult to speak the words that had hurt him so much before, but Near waited patiently, understanding Matt and Mello's previous relationship. "When he said...that he may be killed." Matt breathed roughly trying to fight back tears. He was putting up such an effort to be strong that it hurt him not just emotionally, but physically as well. Near looked up at him, his lips parted.

"You don't know do you?" He said gently. Matt looked up at Near, he had closed his eyes.

"Kn-know wha-" Matt stopped midway into his sentence. At this moment, there was only one thing that it could be and he didn't want to hear it.

"Matt...Mello is.." he began, looking at him semi-apologetically.

"Shut up!...D-don't say it. I know what you're going to say..." Matt's voice broke. There was no use in holding back his tears now. He let them spill over and his soft sobs ripped from his throat. Near scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He let the subject go and looked away to give Matt some privacy, then figured the best thing to do would be to leave. Besides..there was something he had to do. He slowly turned and began walking out of the room.

"I'll be back to check on you later" He said loud enough for him to hear over his crying. Then he walked out of the door, taking the packet with him. Soon enough, Matt's sobs began to fade as he walked down the long hallway. He reached the double door at the end of the hall, entered the pass code and waited only an instant for the doors to fly apart. Inside, he saw that Lidner and Gevanni were on two of the many computer screens. They were sitting in their vehicles talking quietly with Rester, who had just finished straightening out some paperwork. They all looked up as Near came into their view and greeted him.

"Hello, everyone." He said simply and continued to walk. He set the packet down on the table near the computer screens before kneeling down to the speaker he usually used to contact L. Commander Rester walked over to the table to get a look at the packet.

"Whats..this?" He asked picking it up and reading the heading. "Los Angeles BB Murder Cases?" He looked at Near with a confused look. Near looked up at him expressionless.

"It fell out of Matt's vest when we were removing the bullets." He said simply. Rester nodded and opened the packet to the middle, not exactly to read it. Just looking it over.

"That would explain the blood stains...Did you read all of this?" Near sighed and clicked on the speaker.

"Hmm...more like..thoroughly skimmed." Rester let out a brief chuckle, set down the papers and walked over to the computer.

"Connect me to L please." Without hesitation, Rester did as ordered. Within seconds, The letter L in Old English font appeared on all of the screens. Near took a few seconds for the Task Force to acknowledge he was on the line before he started talking.

"Hello L" He said gently.

"Yes?" he answered. Near couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted by calling Kira L. He could never be L. He was inferior to L. No matter...he was aware that it would all be over soon. He was able to shield his annoyance pretty well.

"I don't mean to keep bothering you, but with regards to our meeting...I wanted to confirm that we are still set for the 28th at 1pm, alright?"

"Yes" His tone was lighter now.

"Very well. The 28th...the day after tomorrow."

"Right.." And the line ended.

The room was an awkward silent for a moment longer. Lidner and Gevanni's screens had reappeared and they all seemed to be waiting for Near to speak.

"Gevanni.." He finally said, placing a Kawaii plushie of L onto his index finger.

"Yes?"

"Will you be able to make it in time?"

"Yes. I'll be there for sure." Near lowered his head and smirked. "Commander Rester, Lidner, Gevanni...lets put our best into this shall we?"

"Yes" They all answered in unison. The four of them had grown strangely close during the last few weeks. It was a nice thought that was keeping that smirk on Near's lips. He stood and stretched his arms upward.

"Near.." Rester began.

"Hmm?"

"What are we going to do with Matt?..We aren't going to leave him alone here are we? Remember, he still worked for Mello"

"Of course not...I plan on bringing him along with us. Even if we were to leave him, I highly doubt he'd be any threat to us" His smirk turning into a full blown smile. "The wounds in his legs weren't too severe, so I'm sure he'll be able to walk on crutches. Considering his arms will be doing a lot of the work, we'll just give him a few more injections to soothe the pain for a few hours. He should be fine."

"Wait..you want him in the building for the meeting? Are you sure that's a good i-"

"Commander Rester..." Near interrupted. "I'm pretty sure he knows all about the notebook and Kira from Mello. The two of them were very close after all. I'm sure Mello didn't hesitate to tell him everything." Mello...

Rester nodded.

"Alright...Now all there is to do now, is wait."

"Yes." Near said turning on his heels towards the door. "I'm going to check on Matt."

Near left the room and continued down the hall for the third time that morning. He hoped Matt had calmed down from when he left him last. Near wasn't one to deal with these sort of things. When he turned into the room, he saw that Matt was sitting up in the bed. The bandages covering little areas of his bare chest. He could see light blood stains getting darker. He must have ripped one of his wounds wider trying to sit up. Near rolled his eyes.

"You're really stubborn." He said walking over to him. As he got closer, he could see that Matt's face was recovering from crying so hard. His eyes looked like they were lightening up again from their previous redness. They were still slightly swollen and his cheeks were damp. His breathing was even now.

Near reached the bed then searched in the drawer next to it for some extra bandages.

"I can't just lie down all day. It doesn't really hurt anymore." He cleared throat. His voice still sounded broken. Near flung the bandage around on of the darkening ones. He tied it really tight, making sure to stop the bleeding.

"Yes..but that's only temporary." He said taking a step back and folding his arms. "You'll be coming with us when all of this ends." He said suddenly. Matt snapped his head in his direction. His eyes full of confusion.

"What?"

"The Kira case is as good as finished. The day after tomorrow...this will all be over. You're coming with us." Near wanted him to be clear that this wasn't a request. Matt scrunched his eyebrows.

"I don't get a say in this?"

"No...besides, where else would you go?" Matt opened his mouth in an attempt of a counter statement, but couldn't come up with one. He had been with Mello most of time he was in Japan, but...he was gone. He had no where else to go.

"I rest my case" Near said going to sit down once again in the corner across from the bed. It was then that Matt realized Near's hands were empty.

"What did you do with the packet?..Mello told me to keep it safe." Near sighed.

"I'm aware of that. However, I read a good amount of it and I remember Mello writing and I quote "The first person who will most likely read this first will probably be that big-headed twit Near."... I would have thought he would use a much harsher word to describe me. At any rate, that means he knew that it would get to me somehow. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I held onto it." Matt sat in silence not knowing what else to say at the moment. He glanced over at Near who seemed to be deep in thought. A smile on his lips caught Matt off guard. He didn't even realize he was blushing. Near was just so...

" You're so cute." Matt clapped his hands over his mouth, not realizing he had said it out loud until Near gave him an awkward stare. Instead of commenting, Near stood up and started to head for the door.

"Wait Near! Don't leave! I'm sorry..." Near stopped halfway out the door. He never planned on actually leaving. He was just trying to prove his point. He HATED being called cute. That's probably a fact you can see without even having to be told. Matt couldn't see his face anymore from how his pale strands shielded them., but he knew he was probably glaring under them.

"You don't like being called cute." Matt breathed. It wasn't a question. "I get it."

"..."

"It was a compliment y'know..." he grumbled glancing to the side and leaning back into his pillow.

"It's not a compliment to call a man cute." Matt bit back a chuckle from the thought of Near referring to himself as a "man".

"Near..you're still a teenager."

" I'm nineteen...I am a legal adult. Even with that...calling a guy cute...it annoys me." Matt sucked his teeth and folded his arms.

"What if it was a girl that said it to you." Matt observed Nears expression carefully and waited for his answer. He was silent for a while and finally...

"It would make no difference."

"Near...you're a downer." Matt scoffed. Near rolled his eyes and walked back into the room.

"So does that mean you haven't met a girl yet?" Matt said with a grin. Near glared at him.

"Have you met another_ guy._" He countered. Matt's grin fell. Got him back good. Matt shook it off and continued.

"Near..it's just a question." He pressed. Near sighed and pulled the chair in the corner to the bed and sat.

"Yes, I've met a lot of girls. There's Lidner, there's-" Matt threw a pillow at Near's face cutting him off.

"You know that's not what I meant dummy." Matt said with a smile. He almost forgot about Mello for the moment, but the thought slowly creeped back making his smile fall slightly.

Near noticed this small change in Matt's attitude and realized the reason immediately. Near sighed not wanting Matt to break into tears again. It would just make the situation even more uncomfortable than it already was.

" I know what you meant...romantically, no I haven't met anyone. But as in an acquaintance...yes I have." He spoke the words so low that if Matt had made a sound, he would have drowned it out and missed it. It worked, it got Matt's attention.

"Is she hot?"...Blunt. Near shot him a look.

"This conversation isn't something that interests me Matt. Matt glared at him for a second.

"Near..can you not be anti-social for once? No one is here, I won't tell anyone, just tell me." Right at that moment, Near heard three faint, but still audible beeps, which was the alert that someone was waiting in the lobby. They already heard someone rushing in that direction. Near wanted to use this as an excuse to leave and avoid this unnecessary conversation, but Matt knew him too well.

"Don't you dare...let your servants get it." He joked.

"They aren't my servants Matt." He said in his signature monotone voice. Matt grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, they do everything you tell them to."

"Only when it regards the Kira investigation. Otherwise, they do almost everything else on their own." Matt chuckled.

"Yeah, almost everything." Suddenly Gevanni entered the room with a small box in hand. He hadn't realized he'd returned. Near knitted his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting anything anytime soon. He stood while Gevanni handed the box to him.

"More plush toys?" He asked with an amused smile. Near took the box from him and sat back down in the chair.

"To be honest...I have no idea. Thank you Gevanni." Gevanni nodded and left the room.

"I never understood your fetish for toys..." Matt said when he was sure Gevanni was a good distance away from the room. Near ignored him and began to open the box. It was from Kawaii Plush as usual, but he was certain, he hadn't ordered anything. He tore through the tape with ease, making a loud ripping sound. He slowly unfolded the card board to reveal two objects protected in bubble wrap along with a cream colored envelope on the side. He took the biggest of the two first and unwrapped it. Soon enough, he pulled out a six by six rubics cube that had a letter on each of the colored sides. P.U.Z.Z.L.E it spelled. Near felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards for only an instant, when he had forgotten the other object. He balanced the cube on his lifted knee and reached for the other item. Once unwrapped, Near held the bottom of the bag and let the smaller object fall into his palm. He had already known who the person behind this delivery was from the moment he unwrapped the rubics cube, but she just had to make it too obvious. Near placed the finger plushie of the brunette on his index finger and reached in the box for the last thing. He used his free finger to open the envelope and pulled out a small note.

_~Now you can never forget my face no matter how long it will be until we meet again.~_

_Set a record for me to beat the next time we do ;)_

_~Brooke_

Near didn't realize he was smiling until he looked up and saw that Matt, from his position, was reading the note upside down. (Another one of his talents other than hacking and gaming) After reading the note for himself, he glanced up at Near with a grin.

"Yeah...acquaintance my ass"

**So that was the next chapter! I hope you liked it! Please review :D**

**Death Eraser Rules:**

**How To Use It:**

**Depending on the hours the human being brought back has been deceased, those are the minutes it takes for them to be brought back times 10.**

**This also depends on the condition of the body. The Death eraser heals anything that has happened to the body that happens over time (Decomposing)**

**If the person has been dead for over a year, it takes 9 months exactly for them to be brought back.**


	8. Secrets

**Yay, you guys liked the last chapter :D I really enjoyed writing it hehe. I realy liked writing this one as well and I hope you like it just as much as the last one. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death note, if I did...There would be a part 2 haha**

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**~2 Days Before Face Off~**

"Okay, then Mai saved your life." Brooke said sitting in the armchair across from them. Mai explained everything while treating Mello's scars. Within that time, Mello discovered that Brooke knew everything about the Death Note and Naito. She had just so happened to be with her when it was dropped on her head...yeah, Brooke reacted much differently than Mai did.

Mello flinched when Mai rubbed more of the mystery liquid on a burn. He didn't ask about what she was using. As long as it made the scars dissappear, he didn't care.

"Yeah..." He answered simply. Brooke crossed her legs and arms not saying anything else until she looked around and realized something.

"Wait a minute...where _is_ Naito?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh..I really don't know. He told me to mind my business...jerk. I guess he had something to do."

"What could a shinigami do in a world where only three people can see him?" Mai shrugged.

"Naito's a weird shinigami...who knows what he does here for fun." Brooke shrugged as well then stood up and turned on the TV before walking into the kitchen.

"Man, it's a good thing I went to the supermarket before coming home, the fridge is pretty much empty." She went to grab the grocery bags she dropped near the door and brought them to the kitchen to put everything away.

"Yeah, well you're always cooking everything we buy within a week so that's not my fault." Mai said with a smirk. Not that she minded. Brooke was an awesome cook, and it was one of Mai's weaknesses. Mai couldn't even cook rice without making it as solid as a rock.

"Wait a minute" Mai said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Brooke said barely peeking over her shoulder.

"The supermarket is right around the corner, how come you're home so late?" Brooke paused for a brief moment before continuing her actions.

"I..had to make a delivery before coming home" Mai never did see the smirk on Brooke's face.

Mai knitted her eyebrows for a second.

"What? But you only deliver on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"What's your point?"

"Today's Thursday"

"Who asked you?" Mai shot a look at her.

"_Well_" she scoffed. What's with her?

Mello glanced back giving her a look.

"_Someones_ on her period." He joked with a smirk. Brooke turned around giving him an evil glare.

"Shut up, transvestite!" She hissed. Mello rolled his eyes.

"I've been called worse my whole life...you're gonna have to do better then that." Brooke was about to stomp over if Mai hadn't held her hand up.

"Would you two calm down? This isn't the time to be arguing.

"Whatever" Mello said grabbing the remote. Brooke just growled and went back to putting away the dishes.

"I was just curious." She spoke to Brooke again. "You're always home on time." Brooke didn't show an sign of hearing Mai. Mai sighed and let it go. Brooke was able to change the subject easily.

"Tessa at the shop taught me a new recipe." She said in a gentle tone.

"Oh really? For what?"

" It's a noodle dish...Udon. I think I'm gonna give it a try." Mai smiled.

"See? Always cooking everything." Brooke chuckled.

"Hey, I bought four weeks worth of food, we'll be fine."

"Yeah, Yeah" Just then, sound of loud flapping filled the room. Everyone's head turned to the open balcony door to see Naito leaning in the doorway. He was grinning his usual grin.

"Well, well look who's back" Brooke said glancing over her shoulder. Naito nodded in her direction and then looked at Mai and Mello.

"Humm...someone's getting a little too comfortable in this house." He said glaring at the shirtless Mello. Mello ignored his comment. Mai looked at Naito.

"Are you going to share with us where you flew off to?" Naito stepped into the room and plopped onto the armchair.

"Nope...I told you. That's my business." Mai knew he wouldn't tell her anything. But it doesn't hurt to try right? But it was strange...she couldn't think of a rational reason why he would leave. She knew he didn't go back to the Shinigami realm because his trip was way too short. A part of her was telling her to let it go...that she didn't _want_ to know where he was, but that just made it more curious. She shook it off for the moment.

"Alright...and...done." She said to Mello. She finished tying the last bandage around his arm and sighed leaning back on the couch. Mello rotated his shoulder blades gently and turned his torso left and right.

"Thanks...it's not as sore.." He said looking back at Mai. She smiled a cocky smile.

"Mhmm...the liquid I rubbed on the scars numbed the area for a while." Mello nodded, sighed and went back to watching TV. Mai's eyes shifted to Naito and his expression surprised her. It wasn't mocking, it wasn't cockiness, and it wasn't jealousy. He was so serious. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. His eye brows knitted suddenly. What was he thinking about? Right when she was about to say something, Naito stood, his wings emerged out from either side of his back and and bolted out of the still open balcony door.

"Aaaand...he's off again." Brooke said without turning around. Mai continued to stare out the open door. Naito had been acting really weird today..and now that she thought about it, he seemed a little off yesterday as well. There were a limited amount of conclusions that she came to. He was a shinigami after all. Who knows what they do in their free time. Mai stood and walked over to the balcony. Of course the ground was wet, but she didn't really mind. It felt great outside. That gentle coolness right after it rains. She leaned over the side taking it all in. Already people were starting to emerge on the sidewalk, probably waiting until the rain stopped to get going again.

Mai saw everything that went on on her street. And you see A LOT on this street. She's seen cosplayers walking down this street, shes seen a fight break out, and she's seen people get crippled.

Just then someone being pushed in a wheelchair caught her eye. From the look of him, he seemed to be pretty young. He was being pushed by some kind of businessman. Maybe they were co-workers? But she figured they would both be wearing a business suit. The man in the wheel chair was wearing stripes so they couldn't be working in the same field. Mai shook her head. She always did think too much about things. She took one last refreshing breath and walked back inside, shutting the door behind her. It didn't matter since Naito walked through walls all the time. He'll get in without an issue whenever he decides to come back.

When she walked back in the room, Mello was no where in sight. Brooke's back was still turned

so chances are, she didn't see him slip away. Mai walked down the hall and peeked in her room. No Mello. She continued to walk down the hall and glanced in Brooke's room. No Mello. The only place left was the hall closet and bathroom, but she highly doubted that he would be hiding in the closet. Mai chuckled a little from her little joke and slowly walked towards the bathroom. She saw that the door was open. When she reached the door, she slowly peeked around the corner, not knowing what to expect. Right away she saw Mello with his back turned holding something to his ear. A cell phone? She figured it must have came from his other pants pocket. She was surprised it worked after everything his body's gone through.

"I know...yes...yes..." He spoke into the device. '_Who could he be talking to at this time?..Didn't everyone think he was dead?_' Mai thought.

"Alright...the day after tomorrow. I'll be there" There was a long silence before Mello spoke again. His tone was so serious, but at the same time sympathetic.

"Okay...and Near...thanks" Suddenly she heard the phone snap closed. Near? Why did that name sound so familiar? Mai quickly remembered her position and ran down the hall as quietly as she could, not wanting Mello to see that she was eavesdropping. She jumped on the couch pretending she had been there the whole time. She thought about what Mello said.

"The day after tomorrow..." She said quietly. Brooke turned slightly.

"Hmm?"

"Oh...nothing it's just..." Mai stood and walked over to the kitchen. She leaned on the counter. " Mello was talking on the phone with someone..."

"Oh?" She asked as she added more ingredients into the broth. Mai nodded.

"Yeah, someone named Near." Just then Brooke dropped her wooden spoon.

"Dammit!" She yelled holding her hand to her chest. She had burned the side of her hand. She hurried over to the sink and ran some cool water over the burn. Mai's eyes widened.

"Crap, hold on, let me get my kit." Mai walked and got the kit from the couch, when she turned around and walked back to the counter, Brooke was looking at her with wide eyes and her cheeks looked flushed.

"Sorry about that...Did you say Near?" She sounded excited for some reason. Mai gave her a look.

"Y-yeah...what's wrong with you?" Mai grabbed Brooke's hand from under the running water. Water never helps a burn. It soothes the pain for a bit, but it only makes the healing process slower. She quickly grabbed the thick liquid that she used for Mello's burn and rubbed it on the now swollen area. After that, she wrapped a thick layer of bandages around her hand. Brooke didn't complain, she just let Mai finish. She shook her head.

"Nothing...sorry. It's just a...unique name you know?" Brooke turned awkwardly. Mai knew she was hiding something, but she also knew that when Brooke didn't want to tell her anything...she wouldn't so she didn't ask. Not now anyway. Mai turned and continued to lean on the counter. Brooke bent down and picked up the spoon. She tossed it in the sink and reached in the drawer for another one. Soon enough, Mello walked around the corner and glanced at Mai. His face was expressionless.

Mai pushed away from the counter.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. She can't make it obvious that she was listening in on his conversation. But from the sound of it, she didn't think it was anything too private.

Mello exhaled and ran his fingers through his blonde strands.

"I wouldn't say anything is _wrong_ but there's something I have to do."

"You mean..you have to leave?" She knew it was a stupid question. Of course he would have to leave eventually. But she was starting to like the idea of Mello staying with them for a while.

Mello nodded.

"Yes...the day after tomorrow. I need help getting there." Mai looked down with a sad look.

"Alright." She did her best to cover up her disappointment. Brooke turned around.

"You're leaving so soon...Don't you think you should take some time to recover?" She asked. Mello shrugged.

"I'm fine."

"You think you'll ever stop by again?" Mai said trying to sound indifferent. Mello could see through it. It made him a little smug, but he still really appreciated how she seemed to care for him.

"It's a possibility." He said with a smirk. Mai nodded and looked down at her feet.

"Wipe that look off your face and come here." Brooke said changing the tone of the situation. In her mind, Mai thanked her. She looked over her shoulder smiling at her. Brooke flashed a wink at her and brought her attention back to Mello who was already making his way over to her. She knew when something became too awkward or when Mai just didn't want to talk about something anymore. Brooke knew her too well.

"What?" Mello said looking down at the pot. It looked amazing and smelled even better.

"Stop depressing the environment and taste this." She said lifting the wooden spoon to Mello's mouth. Without a word he tasted it. He thought a little.

"I'm helping you cook." Was the only answer she got. Brooke raised an eyebrow.

"You cook?"

"Am I blonde?" He joked. Brooke chuckled.

"Alright then, lets get to it then." Mai smiled and walked out to the balcony again. The best thing to do now is to enjoy the time right now. It was starting to drizzle again, but like the wet ground, Mai didn't mind.

"They getting on your nerves in there?" A familiar voice said above her head. She darted her head up and saw Naito sitting on air.

"Why do you keep leaving?" Was all she said. Naito closed his eyes and shrugged.

"I have things to do...you're not a shinigami so you wouldn't understand." Mai glared at him as he lowered himself onto the balcony. That was when Mai noticed that Naito was letting the rain drops fall on him. Usually he would fade slightly and let it go through him. She looked down as the rain drops slid from his tall slender form. It looked as if the water falling from him had a sort of reddish tent to it. Mai looked up at him with a serious look.

"Naito...what is this?" She said pointing to the pinkish puddle. Naito folded his arms and looked down.

"The ground...I think you need some sleep Mai. You're acting weird."

"_I'm_ acting weird? You flew off without an explanation twice today, and now it looks like...like...like _blood_ is dripping from you. What the hell?" Naito didn't say a word, he simply walked through the balcony door ignoring her completely.

"Ugn!" Mai groaned. Why is it that all of a sudden, Naito's been acting weird. No doubt about it, he was hiding something, and she was determined to find out what it was as soon as possible.

**Alright, that was the next chapter. I know the ending could have been better, but I wasn't sure what could have been a good way to end it. Anyways, I'm SUPER excited about the next chapter. Please review! ^.^**


	9. Encounter

**Hey there ^^ I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter. To the unknown reader who commented on chapter 4, I don't want to give away the story. You don't have to pray that it won't turn out the way you don't want...just don't read if you don't like it..and if you're gonna comment, please **_**try**_** to be more positive and less blunt. Besides that, thanks for telling me. I know what not to do now, and I went back and fixed that issue in the other chapters. I really appreciate it.**

**Oh! and by the way, if those of you that haven't figured out that this fanfic is a half yaoi, I'll just tell ya now...it's a yaoi! mixed in with a little straightness XD**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: Finally, we've reached this chapter..can't wait ^^**

**Midnight: Yep, yep This is where the story **_**really**_** starts...**

**RubyR3d: Alright, we don't own Death Note because if we did, there would have been more than one kiss in the entire anime.**

**~The Day Before Face Off~**

Matt rolled himself into the computer room trying to adjust to the wheelchair. He was really starting to get the hang of it but damn was it work for his arms. Near had injected them again before he woke up so rolling around wasn't too painful. He had been practicing all day and was able be outside again yesterday, but Gevanni had to push him for a while.

"Good afternoon...Matt." Rester greeted him from the far side of the room. Matt nodded towards him and looked around the room. The light glare from Lidner's hair caught his attention. She had fallen asleep at her laptop. Matt rolled gently towards her. He could see that she had been sleeping on the **S** key from the computer screen looking like it was stuttering with the **S **sound and occasional **W**, **F**, and **A**.

Matt smirked before poking her shoulder. He was very much aware that they had been working non stop for weeks...so had Mello. He couldn't blame her for being exhausted.

Lidner jerked upwards at the touch, but her eyes remained closed.

"Lidner..?" Matt said gently, not trying to startle her. She peered through her pale lashes to see Matt sitting in front of her.

"Hey Matt.." She greeted him. Her voice sounded groggy so she must have been there since last night. She cleared her throat and stretched her arms upwards with a yawn.

"You were here all night? Why didn't you use one of the rooms or the couch over there?" He asked putting slight pressure on his arm. Some of the numbness was starting to ware off.

"Well...I don't think I'd be comfortable sleeping in a medical bed. And for sleeping on the couch..." Lidner nodded over to the couch. When Matt glanced over in that direction he spotted a familiar silver head dipped over it's arm.

"No way.." Matt exclaimed, rolling to the couch. Soon enough, Near's reposed form caught his eye.

"I didn't think Near actually slept..." he said half-jokingly. He looked over Near's features. He looked so at ease.

"I know what you mean. I'm glad he's getting his rest...It was starting to scare me..a kid his age not sleeping as much as he should" She said in a relieved tone. "He hasn't slept in days. The way she said it made her sound more like his mother than employee.

"Because of all this Kira nonsense." Matt said in a tone with a hint of anger. He leaned back in the wheelchair.

"Oh, Matt..." Matt looked up at her through the corner of his eye. " How are you doing? You seem to be taking..everything strangely well. It's been only two days and you seem to be coping pretty nicely with-"

"I'm fine Lidner" He said roughly. It was true that Mello's passing had hurt him...hurt more than anything had in a while, but Matt never was one to greif for very long. Even so, it was still a sensitive subject. He was only able to keep his composure if he didn't talk or think about it for the moment. Lidner nodded.

"Sorry to bring it up." Matt shrugged it off lightly. Lidner quickly changed the subject.

"Hey, Gevanni is about to head to _Bic Camera. _Why don't you go with him?..Get some fresh air...get your mind of things. You're good with technology aren't you? Maybe you can help him" Matt could see Gevanni glance back at them momentarily. Secretly, he was probably wishing for Matt to say "Eh, no thanks", but _Bic Camera_ was one of Matt's favorite stores so his response was the complete opposite.

"Hmm..Alright" He said smirking back at Gevanni. Gevanni rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket. Matt rolled to the automatic doors and waited for him there.

"Ready?" He said with a hint of a begrudging tone.

"When you are" Matt responded.

XxX

Gevanni had pulled into a parking lot across the street from the store. The two hadn't spoken more that a few words to each other the whole ride. Gevanni didn't seem like the kind of person that you can easily start a conversation with. You say a sentence hoping to start up a good talk, he gives a one word response. That was one of the many things that ticked Matt off sometimes. Maybe he was just stressed...who knew what was going on in all of their heads. He helped Matt from the passenger side to the wheelchair and only pushed him to the entrance of the building. That's where Matt took over.

"I'm sure you don't want to be following me all through the store so you can go ahead and browse...Meet at the register in about 20 minutes."

Matt couldn't really shake the feeling that he was a little kid going to the store with his father...it was weird.

"Yeah.." he answered and gently rolled down the first brightly lit aisle. The store wasn't as crowded as expected. Then again, it was a pretty big store. Other people were probably just spread out through the whole place.

Matt felt a little relieved being able to get outside by himself again. It may have only been two days, but his whole life, he had never spent more than 9 hours indoors. His time inside was used for sleeping and when back at the orphanage, classes. But even between passing periods, stepping outside was a necessity.

He continued to roll down the aisle, his head shifting from right to left occasionally. He had finally reached the end and made a sharp turn left. The thought of waiting to see if someone would wander around the corner slipped his mind and caused hit straight into someone who was just minding there own business reading their comic.

The man made a shocked noise and somehow instead of falling back on his butt, he fell forward onto Matt by trying to gain his balance.

Matt made and an annoyed kind of groan with a mix of soreness.

"Ugh..dammit!" Matt complained gripping the guy's shoulders and nearly pushing him off of him onto the floor, but he hesitated when his face came into his view.

"I-I'm really sorry, I should have watched where I was going, p-please forgive me..I-I'm really really sorry." he stuttered nervously, his cheeks bright red.

Matt didn't show a sign of hearing his words. He stared into the boys abnormally light blue eyes. At least, that's what he thought...

Looking full on at him now, he couldn't really tell if this person was male or female. It was either a really cute girl or a very feminine dude...No one could blame Matt for staring, who wouldn't? It would make _anyone_ think "Which one is it?"

It didn't take long for the boy/girl to know why Matt was staring with such a confused and curious expression, then stood back up on his/her feet and frowned.

" I know, I know..I look like a girl, but _must_ you stare like that? It's really annoying and I get it everyday so you're pissing me off." He had switched to a completely different person. He was just all nervous and couldn't talk without stuttering and now...serious and pissed and it made Matt stop his gawking.

"Everyday?" He asked gently. He could see how that could get annoying. The boy nodded and bent down to pick up his Manga. Even his body figure and had a feminine touch. He was very slender and had curves. His hair was black and stopped at his face just enough to be able to see his eyes. And now that he thought about it, Matt could swear the guy had a light layer of eye liner under his eyes. Reminded him of someone else he knew..

"Sorry, I'm not usually one to snap like that...it just...it makes me self conscious you know?" Again with the personality change.

"It's alright...it's normal to get pissed about something like that. I know I would." He said with a smile. "Sorry I was making you uncomfortable by staring."

The boy blushed deeper and looked away quickly.

"Oh..um..It's alright...you figured it out faster than anyone I've met." He held out his hand. " My name is Genesis...it's nice to meet you." Matt raised his eyebrows at his name. Even _it_ was feminine, but he liked it.

Matt shook his hand.

"Matt" He introduced himself. "You have a last name?" Genesis smiled.

" Doesn't everyone? My name is Genesis Birat-..mm...Bale" That moment, you could see a hint of panic and embarrassment painted on Genesis' face. He knew that his hesitation was obvious.

Matt gave him a look. Did he just give himself an alias surname?

"Why the hesitation?" Matt asked, his smile fading slightly.

Genesis' eyes shot in his direction full on. Matt could almost hear Genesis telling himself mentally to calm down. He was able to compose himself and and answer clearly after a few more long seconds.

"Sorry...I just recently changed my surname, and I'm not completely used to it yet."

Matt's eyebrows knitted...he wouldn't have made such a big deal out of _that_ the way his eyes looked when he hesitated...they were fear struck. If they hadn't just met, he would have pushed the subject, but he didn't want to make him uncomfortable again so he changed the subject.

"What manga is that?" Matt asked pointing at the book in Genesis was holding close to his side. He could feel Genesis' relief when the subject was different. He smiled and showed the cover to Matt.

"_Akazukin Chacha" _Matt read. He glanced up at Genesis with his stunning emerald eyes. "So you like shojo" It wasn't a question.

"Y-yeah...my brother was the one who made me read this manga. It's his favorite."

"Hmm" Matt nodded. There was an awkward silence after that for a few seconds.

"Um...Do you..?" Genesis broke the silence, but couldn't continue his question, not wanting to be rude.

"Have I..." Matt encouraged him to go on.

"I was gonna say if you minded that I ask you what happened...you know..um..how you got in a wheelchair." '_Will he tell me?_' he thought mentally. He watched Matt's expression carefully. He could see a flicker of pain in it, but it disappeared quickly.

" That's a bit of a personal question don't you think?" Matt answered with a flirty smirk. Genesis could have sworn he felt his heart skip from it.

"Oh..I-I'm sorry."

"It's cool...I'll tell you when I know you better." Genesis grinned happily.

"So..you're saying you want to know me better?" He asked hopefully. '_N-no...I can't...what the hell am I saying?...I'm not allowed to get close to anyone...especially not Matt..._'

Matt thought for a second. The fact that he was moving into something too fast crossed his mind. He figured, maybe he just needed comfort...someone other than Near or Lidner to talk to. He _needed_ someone...someone to _feel_ for him.

"Yes...I want to get to know you." He smiled up at him. Genesis blushed for the millionth time that day and looked away, trying to cover both his embarrassment and fearful eyes. He hadn't felt this nervous around someone for a while. There was only one other person that made him feel this way...

"D-Do you have a cell phone?" he asked. Genesis hesitated before answering.

"I..um...y-yeah I do..." Genesis checked his jacket for a piece of paper. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and searched the two grocery bags he had for the receipt. He finally reached it and wrote his number with a shaky hand. He handed the paper to Matt with a false smile. '_ Dear God...he's going to be so angry ...he's going to hurt me again, I just know it...I-I can't tell him...I have to stay calm. He can't find out about this.._'

Matt smiled back generously. "Can I call you tonight?" He asked trying to be flirty enough to tug at Genesis' heart strings.

"I-I..well...tonight isn't so good...maybe Monday?" he said nervously. Matt shrugged.

"I guess so-" Just then, Matt felt a vibration in his pocket. He had almost forgotten Lidner lent Matt her cell for the day. He reached in his pocket and looked at the caller ID. The name _Gevanni_ flashed on the screen.

"What timing.."

"What's wrong? Do you have to go?" Genesis asked sounding slightly disappointed. Matt sighed and nodded.

"Yeah..sorry. I'll call you Monday alright?" Genesis smiled. For some reason, hearing those words directed towards him, excited him in a way.

"Alright..can't wait. See you" Genesis said with a smile and heading in the opposite direction.

"See you.." Matt turned on his wheels with a smile playing on his lips. This has been quite an interesting day...and it wasn't even over yet.

He rolled to the front of the store and met Gevanni at the door.

"How're you doing?" Gevaani asked. Matt knew he meant if he was feeling well enough to roll anymore. Again, Matt shrugged a little.

"Mm..I think I'll be alright for a little longer." Gevanni nodded and walked towards the automatic doors. Matt followed him out and when he turned his head, he could see Genesis walking away. He watched until he disappeared around the corner.

"Talk to you soon" he murmured to himself.

"What?" Gevanni said turning around to him.

" Sorry, ..nothing.." He said smirking. The two then made their way to the car and made their way back to the SPK building.

XxX **(WARNING: A little bit of yaoi fans service in next part)**

Genesis slowly walk up his street, dreading going back into his apartment. He wasn't ready...

He never could hide anything from _him_. Even with a straight face.

He was beginning to feel nauseous as his building came into view, so he stopped for a moment to lean against the fence. He gripped the holes with his fingers firmly, trying to keep his balance. His head began to pound and he was fighting tears of fear..

"Wh...What am I going to do?...He's going to be pissed at me I know it..." He panted. He could feel his stomach coming up.

He wanted to say he regretted coming in contact with Matt, but he didn't. For years now, he had never said more than ten words to anyone except _him_. He didn't want to feel alone anymore. He felt that Matt was the one that could break him from that...

He took deep breaths trying to keep his nausea in control. He slid his back down the fence, wanting to rest for a moment and reached into his turtle neck shirt to grab the silver chain around his neck with his mother's ring on the end. For years he had been telling himself that it brought him protection. It kept him from being killed all these years, so it must have been true. His mother was protecting him...

Genesis loved his mother more than anything..next to _him_, but she died at such a young age. Life for them had been nothing short of difficult after that.

"Please...mom..protect me...d-don't let him hurt me..please" He panted while a few tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped them with the back of his sleeve and took a few more breaths before standing up right again.

"Please...help me." Were his last words before continuing to walk to his apartment.

Once inside, he walked up the stairs rather slowly, the steps creaking with every movement. The halls were cold and smelled of cigarettes and air freshener. When they had first moved in, he couldn't stand it, it made him sick and have to hold his breath until he got into his part of the building.

He finally reached his door. The moment he touched the handle, fear squeezed at his heart instantly. He held his breath while he pushed the door slowly. The rush of cool air hit his face once he stepped inside the dark room. He could see natural light spilling a bit from the blinds in the living room and from the single bed room.

He closed the door so slowly that it took about 5 minutes. He was trying his best not to make any noise. He wasn't ready to face him...he would know that he was hiding something.

The apartment was completely silent...it was almost scary.

Genesis lightly walked into the kitchen area of the room to put away the groceries. He removed his shoes hoping it would make his steps lighter and placed them near the table.

He quietly opened the refrigerator and began to put away the several jars of strawberry jam.

He never did understand how he could stomach eating it without getting sick, but he was a strange person...

Just then, Genesis could feel himself being tightly embraced from behind causing him to gasp in shock. He had accidently dropped the bag with the last jar of jam. He knew it was broken..

"Mmm...looks like you're going to have to buy another to make up for this." _He_ whispered into his ear. Genesis, couldn't bring himself to stop shaking.

"I-I..I-I'm s-so sorry brother..." He said in a small voice. He could feel his brother's grin on the back of his neck. It made a chill run down his spine.

However, he leaned into his embrace and made himself relax, trying to clear his mind of todays earlier activities.

Genesis may have been afraid of his brother...but he loved him so much more. They were all each other had now. He had been hurt physically, mentally and..sexually by his brother several times, but he forced himself to accept it. To endure it, just to be able to keep him by his side.

In a way, Genesis viewed himself as a sort of masochist. He was very much aware that the relationship with his sadistically masochistic brother was wrong...and that was what pushed him to pursue Matt. He needed someone else to love him...but he never intended for it to be Matt of all people.

"You really hurt my feelings today Genesis...you should know better to leave without coming to me first. Then, once you come in, you don't come to me to let me know you're back...and now..you're acting as if you don't love me anymore..."

" I-I'm so sorry brother...I will always love you.._always_." He responded in a shaky voice. This wasn't the reaction he was expecting...his brother was just full of surprises.

"Mmmm" He mumbled into Genesis' neck. He folded down his turtle neck collar so that his lips could touch his skin. His warm breath made Genesis unintentionally moan. His brother chuckled in amusement. He then, brushed Genesis' hair from his path and kissed the skin there. Soon enough, the kisses turned to light suckles and the suckles drifted to bites. By then, Genesis had forgotten all of his fear and was lost in pleasure as his brother roughly pushed him against the refrigerator for leverage.

"Unng!" He exclaimed, the breath being knocked out of him. He wanted more..but his brother was always a tease and only did what suited _him_.

However, he did enjoy pleasing Genesis. Especially when he showed signs of not wanting it.

Genesis let out an occasional gasp and groan from the way he was being repeatedly pressed against the fridge.

"B-Beyond..._please_..." Genesis begged his brother. Saying his name did it and in an instant Genesis' shirt was removed. Beyond quickly turned Genesis to face him. His face was flushed red and his eyes were glossed.

"Brother...I-..I lo-" He was cut off by Beyond's mouth crushing against his. He was pretty sure that they would be bruised by tomorrow. Beyond pushed Genesis far enough until he was lying on his back on the table. Beyond climbed on top of him in a creepy motion, but Genesis had seen it all before so it didn't frighten him as much as it would anyone else. He continued his bites and kisses over all of Genesis' torso, neck and lips. Beyond glanced up at his baby brother engulfed in pleasure. He didn't want him to get too lost in it just yet. He wanted to make sure he stayed in place.

"You will be punished...don't forget Genesis Birthday...you belong to me" He breathed into his throat. Genesis shut his eyes tightly.

"Yes big brother.."

**Alright! That was awkward to write, but also a bit exciting. Yay! Genesis was introduced **

**:D I know there are a few unanswered questions, but they will come all in good time my friends ^^ Please review. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Stick around! The Face-Off is coming soon...DUN DUN DUN!**


	10. Clash

**I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter hehe. I know, BB is a creeper, but that's what makes him awesomely hot no?**

**Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I've been down lately and didn't feel like doing anything, but I'm a bit better so I managed to finish.**

**The day of the face-off has finally arrived! Let's see how everything turns out shall we?**

**Disclaimer:**

**RubyR3d: I don't own Death Note!**

**Midnight: Don't you mean "We"?**

**RubyR3d:...Well it may be true that neither of us own Deathnote..but I'm the one who wrote this story...you just give feedback!**

**Midnight:...-changes subject- Anyways enjoy everybody!**

**RubyR3d: Hehe..-rolls eyes-**

The smell of a rolled omelette woke Mello up in the morning. He cracked his eyes open slightly and could see that the TV was on. He stretched his back before sitting up on the couch.

"Good morning..." Mello heard Brooke's voice above him. He turned his head slowly and saw her leaning over the head of the couch smiling. She looked to be still in her nightwear. (A simple tank top with yoga shorts)

"Ung..." Mello grumbled in response. Brooke chuckled and walked over to the balcony to open the curtains. She sighed when she saw that it was still raining. The sky was a complete dark grayish color, so not much light came into the room.

"Dammit, I was hoping to jog today...so much for that." She turned and walked to sit in her beanbag chair.

"What?" Mello asked shocked. Brooke seemed like too much of a girly girl to be working out.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." She said with a smirk. Just then, Mai came into view holding two plates in her hands and one balancing on her arm. She handed one to Brook and the one balancing to Mello.

"I didn't know how you liked your eggs..then I thought "Hey, can't go wrong with an omlette" She said with a smile. He was glad she was feeling a bit more cheerful. Yesterday, it was clear that she was upset about Mello's having to leave, but something else seemed to be bothering her.

"Thanks.." Mello said gently. He looked around suddenly and noticed that once again Naito was missing. It really was odd. According to Mai, ever since they met, Naito would fly off every now and then, but this week was different. He seemed to be getting more and more uneasy for some reason.

When he came back last night, Mello could see him making meloncholic expressions and stealing quick glances at Mai. It was obvious that Naito was hiding something, but it wasn't Mello's place to medal, so he attempted to let it go.

"So, you're leaving us today huh?" She said trying not to sound disappointed. Mello kept his eyes on his plate while he nodded.

"Yeah.." He said quietly, then he gave her a cocky smile. "I've only stayed with you for two days and you already can't live without me haha...I'm good."

Mai glared while blushing violently.

"Oh shut up!" She crossed her arms and looked away like a five year old.

"I wish we had a car, we would give you a ride to wherever you need to go." Brooke said as she changed to the news.

"Mm..it's cool. I'll take a taxi. I should be leaving pretty soon though. Probably about an hour."

"What? This early?" Mai exclaimed.

"Yeah...I think I'll go shower and then get ready to go." Mai was silent for a while, but gave a small smile.

"Alright. I'll pick out some more clothes for you."

Just then a high pitched sound of "_the WORLD" _by _Ruka_ filled the room. Brooke stood and walked over to the table to grab her jacket. She reached in the pocket to pull out her phone. She glanced at the caller ID and her expression brightened.

"Sorry, one sec you guys." She said happily as she flipped the phone open and held it to her ear. "It's been forever since you called, how've you been hun?" Brooke eased her way out of the living room talking and laughing loudly down the hall.

Mello looked at Mai questioningly. "Her boyfriend?" Mai shook her head.

"Naa, she doesn't have one. It's probably her cousin." She said finishing the last of her breakfast.

"Huh..She seemed really excited" Mai smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, before I moved to Italy and met Brooke, those two were best friends. We all became friends after we met. He's a really cool guy and pretty good-looking I have to admit. He moved to Marseille, France about two years of me moving there, so she hasn't gotten to see him often. Her family's pretty spread out across the world. Hehe, to tell you the truth I actually had a bit of a crush on him in the first month meeting him." She said rubbing the back of her head. Her cheeks tinting a bit.

Mello gave her an annoyed look.

"Did you now?" He said in a tone that caught Mai's attention.

"D-Do I detect a bit of jealousy in your tone?" She teased with a wide smile.

"Like hell!"

"Aww! Mello you're jealous! You're Jelly!" She laughed.

"What are you, five?" He complained standing up. "I'm going to take my shower now."

"Haha fine fine. I'll set your clothes on the counter." She stood as well and began to walk back into the kitchen to place her plate into the sink. She rinsed it thoroughly and turned around only to bump into Mello. He was holding his plate as well, probably to place it in the sink, but Mai wasn't paying attention. She was only looking into Mello's eyes. The sad feeling of him leaving washed over her again causing her to glomp him. She didn't pay the broken dish any mind, she just held on to him for dear life.

"Ugh!..dammit Mai..what's wrong with you today?" Mello groaned from under her.

"I'm sorry...I've been trying not to show it, but I really am going to miss you." She murmured into his shoulder blade. "I know I probably sound stupid..and that it's been only two days, but it's like I had a brother again."

Mello was silent for long time after that. He wasn't sure of what would be the right thing to say at the moment, so he only hugged her tightly and went into a sitting position.

"Look, I'm not usually one to do this so consider yourself lucky, but whenever you need me for anything..just give me a call. I'm not saying I'll always answer or be able to drop everything I'm doing to rush here..but...just know that uh..." Mai couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Haha, you suck at having touchy conversations y'know.." She teased. "You don't have to be all mushy, I get it. We'll still be able to see each other."

"Yeah.." Mello then stood and offered her his hand so she could stand as well.

"Damn...I broke another plate." She groaned while standing up.

"Hehe..Shouldn't have glomped me like a fangirl then if you didn't want to break it."

"Well _excuse me_ for not thinking through my hug." She said putting her hands on her hips kidishly. Mello stretched out his back and began to head for the hallway again.

"I'm showering now."

"Alright, I'l have your clothes in there after I clean this up."

Mai grabbed the broom and dust pan from the pantry and made sure every piece of glass of off the floor. She had made the mistake of quick sweeping the last time she broke something. ended up getting a shard of glass in the heel of her foot.

"Won't make that mistake again" She said under her breath.

Suddenly Brooke's voice could be heard from down the hall again and it was growing closer. She dumped the glass into the trash bin and put the broom and dust pan away again.

"This is so awesome! Can't wait to see you...alright...love you too! Bye." Brooke said cheerfully coming around the corner and shutting her phone."

"Was it Aden?" Mai asked leaning on the counter. She already knew it was, she never got excited about talking to anyone on the phone unless it was with him.

"Yeah, it was. He said he's coming to from Marseille to visit!" She jumped up and down excitedly like she was hyper off sugar. Mai laughed '_Funny...I'm the younger one here and yet.._'

"Oh really? That's awesome. It's been what? About Three years since we last saw him?"

" Two but it seems like three."

"Ha, like there's much of a difference."

"Ugh! Whatever the important thing is that he's coming!"

"Did he say when?

"Yeah, next weekend. He said he had to take care of a few things first." Mai nodded and began walking down the hallway to her room. She had bought Mello some new clothes the other day that were just his style. A new pair of leather pants, a vest similar to the burned one he had, and a leather jacket. The shoes he had were still in pretty good condition so she didn't buy a new pair. She grabbed the bag of clothes from her bed and took it to the bathroom. It was already steamy inside and once again she could make out his bare form from behind the fogged glass.

"You know..you are the definition of creeper" A familiar low voice from behind her. She turned to see Naito leaned against the wall with that signature grin of his. She glared at him, placed the bag of clothes on the counter as she said she would, closed the door behind her and walked back to the living room without saying a word to Naito. He followed her wordlessly.

"Naito! You're back..where ya been this time?" Brooke said when she caught sight of him.

"Same place I was last time. None. Of. Your. Business." He said harshly. Brooke rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch. Mai sat next to her trying her best not to make eye contact with Naito. She was still pissed at him. Naito lifted both of his legs so that he was sitting on air, staring at the side of Mai's face, not moving his glance for a moment. This wasn't the first time Mai had ignored him, but he hated it all the same. One of his main priorities was her attention, but he knew the only way for it now, was to tell where he had been. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. '_I can't tell her...not yet. She wouldn't understand...dammit dammit dammit._'

He hated himself for always getting close to the humans who had once possessed his notebook. It was always a bother and never ended well. But that was what made Naito different from other Shinigami. He was closer to being "human" than any of the others. He could do things that only few Shinigami could do and honestly, even they don't understand why or how they can do it...

If he told Mai about what he could do..no..what he _did_ do..he knew she would relinquish ownership of the Deathnote. It was too much to have on a young girl's mind and she probably wouldn't want to remember it.

Naito was so lost in his mind at the moment that he didn't even realize that Mai was staring at him. The expression on his face was worrying her and the fact that he didn't even see her looking at him..was even scarier. She turned away not wanting to look anymore and her sudden movement made Naito snap out of it.

After another long moment of awkward silence, the sound of the bathroom door being opened was clear down the hall. Mai stood up and waited until she saw Mello turn the corner to start walking.

"Damn..you look..hot." She smiled playfully. Mello smirked.

"Thanks, I know." He bragged. Brooke placed her elbow on the head of the couch and looked back at the two.

"Aw, you leaving us now Mello?"

"Yeah, it's alright, I know you'll miss me too." He said with a teasing wink.

"Heh..whatever".

Mello finally noticed that Naito was in the room when he started walking again.

"What the hell, when did you get here ?" Naito shrugged. He wasn't in the mood for a smart ass response.

"A while ago I guess." He said simply. Mello nodded awkwardly.

"Alright..um..well thanks for everything... I'll come and check on you two-er three again."

"Oh thanks so much for including me." Naito said jokingly. He couldn't resist. There's only so long he can hold in a witty response.

Mello then reached in the pocket of his new jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Mai.

"Like I said, call anytime."

Mai smiled at him and gave him one last hug.

"Oh! That reminds me..I have something else for you." She said running to her room. When she came back, she had a small blue cloth sack in her hand. She handed it to Mello with a shy grin. He began to pull one of the strings loose, but Mai placed her hand over his.

"Don't open it yet. Open it when ya miss me." She chuckled. He let out a breathy laugh and nodded.

"Alright. I'll see you around then." He opened the door walked out into the hall. "You too Brooke." He yelled over his shoulder.

"See you!" She yelled back with a smile. Mello closed the door behind him..and that was it.

Mai let out a big breath. She stood there for a few more seconds before breaking into a sprint back into her room. No more than five minutes later did she run back fully dressed and panting.

'

"What the hell?" Both Naito and Brooke exclaimed.

"What's got into you all of a sudden?" Brooke asked.

"Never mind that, get your butt dressed! We're following that cross-dresser!"

Brooke stared at her wide-eyed.

"You cannot be serious..."

Naito shook his head and face palmed himself.

"Like I said..the definition of creeper.."

XxX

"Good morning everyone" Near greeted the Task Force. Matt was in his wheelchair barely listening to the conversation. It was a bit too early for him, he didn't understand how Near could be so awake. He barely slept himself..

"Er..good morning" Someone one the other line responded.

"First of all, In regards to Misa Amane, we've already set her free. You may call her to confirm it." He said in a gentle tone. Matt's head snapped up. '_Misa Amane? Wasn't she that cute Japanese girl Mello asked me to watch?_' Matt said mentally. He had no idea that they were holding her there.

There was a long pause. Matt assumed that they were calling her.

"Alright Near, I need you to connect me with Mogi. We have the notebook locked away here and in order to open the safe it's kept in, we'll need the pin number from each member of the team." Someone finally spoke.

"Understood, I'll connect you to him immediately." Near did as he said, then turned to look at Matt.

"How are you feeling today Matt?" Matt raised his eyebrows at the question, not expecting Near to speak to him in the middle of the conversation.

"Oh..I feel fine. My arms are still a bit numb." Near nodded.

"Yes, that will pass in a while. I just didn't want you to be sitting in pain when we meet with them...we're going to be there for a while."

"Heh..thanks for caring." He said with a smirk. Near then turned his attention back to the Task Force.

"Near, It's me. We've discussed it and we've decided that I'll be the one to carry the notebook." A new voice announced.

"L are you sure it's alright with you if Mr. Aizawa carries it? Be honest."

"Of course..I chose Aizawa for the job because we knew you'd prefer that. I have no problem with it."

Near made a face for half a second. He could almost hear the smile in "L";s voice.

"I appreciate it, thank you. Well then, we'll see you shortly." Near then disconnected from them and stood.

"I want to get there before they do, so we should get going right away. I believe Lidner and Gevanni are already on their way, we musn't keep them waiting.

"Yes." replied Rester. He helped Near pick up the finger plush dolls from the floor.

"Um..I'll hold them if you want.." Matt offered.

"Why thank you." Near said placing them in Matt's lap. After they were all gathered, the three headed out, hurried into the car, and began to make their way to the old abandoned building know as "_The Yellow Box_"

**XxX**

Genesis was awoken by the small ray of light peeking from under the blinds. He could hear the the loud pelting of the rain hitting the glass. He always did love hearing the rain when he either woke up or was going to sleep. It made the best lullaby.

Genesis attempted to shift his position from his side, to his stomach, but once he moved a jolt of pain flew down to his back side bringing back all the memories of what had happened the night before. He remembered being "punished" by his brother. Genesis clenched his teeth and turned from his right side to his left. To his surprise, he made eye contact with his brother's bright red ones. He was so quiet..how long had he been awake? Them being the first things he saw when turning nearly made him scream, but he was silenced with a cool index finger brought to his lips.

"Nuh uh uh...inside voices please." Beyond spoke gently. There wasn't really a way to explain his tone. It was gentle, yet could make chills run down your spine in fear. Genesis kept his mouth shut while staring wide eyed at his older sibling. Beyond grinned widely and turned on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"We seem to have made a mess of ourselves last night." He whispered upwards. Genesis hadn't even noticed that the pillow cases had several blood stains that were already changing color. They weren't big splotches, but he couldn't remember what they did in order for there to be so many.

As if on cue, Genesis clutched at his mouth. As predicted, they were a bit swollen and probably bruised, but he could also feel small openings on his lower lip. When he ran his tongue over it, the familiar copper taste of blood filled his mouth. Not only that, but he was pretty sure his tongue had been bitten at some point as well.

Any other person would be furious with the damage done to there body..and Genesis was very much aware of how he _should_ feel about the situation and to tell the truth, he almost _was_ angry, but when he turned his head to face Beyond, that feeling vanished.

He didn't know what it was about him...maybe it was because they were siblings..no it was something else.

Genesis took in Beyond's profile. Even in the barely lit room, his cream colored skin was very much visible and flawless. The way his dark hair shadowed his eyes...

His hair was always a bit of a mess, but at the same time looked styled. Genesis ran his eyes over his perfect bone structure. He always observed his brother after they made love and each time, he couldn't understand how someone as enticing as him could scare him so severely.

Beyond his sadistic personality, and few frightening features (Ergo his eyes), Beyond Birthday was an amazing being. And he would always be his brother...that was a bond that no number of harsh words, acts, and "punishments" could ever break.

Genesis only wished that his love for him was brotherly. He didn't have to be told that their relationship was, to put it blunt, screwed up to know that it was true. For years, Genesis had been trying to convince himself that it wasn't love, but he could never be sure. He had never been in love with anyone before so he wasn't really sure what it was suppose to feel like. When it came to Beyond, the feelings of fear, love and loyalty were confused. Which one was it really..

"You thinking about it again." Beyond said in a slight annoyed tone. Genesis snapped out of it then.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." he lied.

Beyond turned his head in his direction. Genesis watched as his ruby eyes grew darker. Beyond leaned in until they were only a few centimeter apart.

"You're a terrible lier..." he whispered. Genesis could taste his sweet breath on the tip of his sore tongue. Genesis sighed.

"Brother...do you love me..Or do you just do this for fun?" He asked looking away. Beyond gave a demonic low chuckle.

"As I thought...it's that BS again." Beyond sat up slowly and then gripped Genesis' forearm. He quickly pulled him tightly to his bare chest. Genesis stifled a painful groan into his brother's throat. He dug his nails into Beyond's chest.

"Ugnn...I-I can't move yet Beyond...i-it hurts.." Beyond ignored the complaint and held him tighter forcing another groan out of the younger. Then he simply got a handful of Genesis' dark locks and tugged his head backwards making him look into his eyes.

"If this was just for my pleasure...I would do it with anyone. I wouldn't keep you around if that was the case..."

Was that a yes? Genesis thought. He would have asked, but he knew that that was as good an answer he was going to get. Genesis then pushed himself away from his brother. He swung one leg over the edge of the bed.

"Agn!" He exclaimed squeezing his eyes shut and pausing for a while before swinging the other leg. Beyond was amused by the sight. He certainly out did himself this time. Beyond got out of bed with ease. Not caring about being nude, he walked around the bed and helped Genesis stand. However he was still being quite rough.

"B-Beyond..please be gentle. I don't think I can handle much more of this.." He panted. Genesis literally felt broken. Beyond put his brother's arm over his shoulders and clutched at his waste, making sure he would not fall over. The fact that they were both completely naked bothered Genesis more than it did Beyond. He knew he had nothing that he hadn't seen before, but he was still shy about being out in the open about it and not safe under the covers. The two finally reached the bathroom. Genesis was placed on the floor and leaned against the porcelain wall. It was cool and helped soothe the headache that he had just recently realized he had.

He heard the sudden rush of water run from the shower head. He then felt himself being lifted in a bridal position. He popped his eyes open and saw that Beyond was carrying him into the shower. The two always did bathe with each other, as much as Genesis objected. There was a space in the shower wall that was supposed to be used for sitting and cleaning instruments, however for these two, it was often used for leverage during their love making.

Beyond set Genesis down there, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold himself up. He grabbed the wash cloth hanging from the shower rack, along with his favorite body wash _Amai Apple. _He squeezed a decent amount onto the cloth and rubbed it in. He then gently nudged Genesis' knee with the cloth to let him know what he was doing. For half a second, a small smile played on Genesis' lips. It was very rare that Beyond was like this. _Brotherly_. Even though he was the one that caused his younger sibling to be in this helpless state, it was almost like he was trying to make up for it by helping him with things he couldn't do himself. Genesis breathed evenly as Beyond lathered his body with the fresh smelling apple wash. He chuckled at his relaxed expression.

"Y'know...you still owe me for that jar of jam you broke." Beyond pointed out. Genesis' eyes opened slowly as he groaned.

"Mm..I told you I would go to the store to buy another...I'll do it to-_day!_" Genesis yelled towards the end of his statement because of Beyond's sudden stroke of the wash cloth in a sensitive area below. This made his brother break out into a full blown was that throaty laugh again. His half phony laugh. His 'shinigami' laugh as he referred to it as. It was almost a tease. Beyond gained his composure and continued cleaning his sibling.

"Are you cross-dressing today?" He asked simply. For them, this was a normal everyday question. Genesis hesitated before answering.

"That depends on how far you want me to go. If it's to the usual market, then yes. Remember, I can't be out more than hour..as myself."

Beyond rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I'm aware of your rules...I was just being sure so that I knew what clothes you needed." Genesis smiled at his rare and limited brotherly behavior.

"Th-thank you.."

"Whatever.."

After the two were clean, Genesis was placed on the bed sheets as Beyond walked to the dark closet to grab a pair a jeans. He didn't even bother to put on any underwear. He always said they were "unnecessary"

Genesis held the towel he was wrapped in close, feeling the chill bumps raise on his skin.

The hot shower water helped with the tenderness of his muscles and Beyond had already treated to his facial wounds. He stole a few kisses in the process, but none that were rough.

He then felt some kind of clothing land on his head. He jumped and then lifted the black material to inspect it. It was a pair of black upper thigh length shorts. Next, came a pair of black and red striped lower thigh length socks. Beyond tossed over a red tank top with black lace covering the front.

"I like this outfit on you.." Beyond said walking back to the bed zipping his jeans. He then tore the towel from Genesis. He groaned at the gust of wind hitting his bare body. Beyond sat him up and grabbed the shirt.

"W-Wait!" Genesis yelled. Stopping him from dressing him. "I..I can get dressed myself...I have to stretch my muscles." Beyond rolled his eyes in annoyance again. Genesis stood, placing one of his hands over his private area in front of him and the other behind as he walked to the closet.

"And another thing..._I_ actually wear underwear, and when I cross-dress, a bra." He said searching through the hamper of clean clothes.

Beyond exhaled loudly and lied backwards onto the bed. he covered his eyes with his arm and was completely still, not saying a word. Genesis grabbed and put on a pair of underwear (That were rather snug for...certain reason's I'm sure you can understand) and snapped the bra into place. He limped over to the dresser to get his gel bra padding.

After placing in the padding, he got dressed at his own pace and then sat on the bed a safe distance from his brother. When he glanced over, he was surprised that Beyond didn't remove his arm from his eyes.

"B-Beyond..?" Genesis said gently leaning closer. No answer.

"Beyond?". No answer. Genesis reached for his brother's forearm and removed it from his face. He had fallen asleep. Genesis exhaled with a slight smile. He wasn't surprised that he would still be tired. They had been at it all night and a few hours into the morning.

Genesis stood and went to the mirror to begin putting in his shoulder length black wig. He then raided the drawer for colored contact case and applied them on gently. When finished, he worked on his make-up. He applied a fair amount of foundation trying to cover up a light bruise, gave himself a layer of eye liner and add a slightly darker tint to his lips trying to blend it well enough to cover up his lip wounds.

Like he usually did when going out, even though majority of the time he's never had to you it, he connected a wire to his underwear under his shorts and snapped the mic to the top of his bra still hidden.

After he was finally finished with his appearance, he grabbed the note pad that was next to the make-up. He searched through the first drawer for a pen and wrote..

_Be back as soon as I can_

_~Genesis_

**XxX**

"Shit..I forgot to ask for an umbrella." Mello swore under his breath as he walked down the sidewalk. He remained close to the buildings he walked by hoping to shield his head from the rain.

Near had told him the building wasn't too far from the train tracks. There was only one track that Mello knew of that was close enough for him to get to from where he was now. He should be there around ten minutes. Near said that in order for everything to go as he planned, the Task Force couldn't know that he would be there. He gave very clear instructions to Mello. Since there was only one opening to the building, there was a latter set up for him to enter through a window on the upper level.

Mello finally came to a barn-like building. '_This has got to be it..' _he thought. He saw a black car parked in the front. He knew that must have meant the Task Force was already there. He took a breath before walking around to the back. The later was there as promised. He would have to enter very quietly to pull this off. He gripped either side of the latter and looked up. He blinked away the rain drops that hit his face repeatedly and began climbing. He shook his head rapidly and blinked a few more times attempting to clear his face temporarily.

He finally reached the open window, but had to push it open a little further to fit through. He ducked his head first and slowly eased into the dark building. His eyes adjusted right away and a gust of warmth hit him. He sighed quietly in relief.

"Hold it! Don't do anything!" Mello heard someone yell as soon as both feet were planted. He jumped and looked to the source of the yell. Right away, Near's pale head caught his view on the bottom level. He saw the backs of about five men, obviously the Task Force members, and the SPK members that were now pointing their guns at one of the other officers.

Mello recognized Linder when he scanned his eyes over everyone. Almost instantly after thinking that, he saw Lidner's head tilt upwards. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of Mello and her lips parted as if she wanted to saw something. Mello quickly put a finger to his now smiling lips. She nodded once and gave her attention back to the Task Force.

Mello knew that Near had already seen him. It was just like him to keep his expression the same.

"Everything is fine! You won't die!" Near said louder than Mello would have expected.

"How can you be so sure Near?.."

"Because I modified the notebook" He said pointing to a small plush version in his hand."

Mello leaned over the balcony bar with a smirk.

"You haven't changed at all..." Mello murmured.

**XxX**

"Hurry up Brooke! We lost sight of him, he's gotta be around here somewhere." Mai shouted back at her friend. They had kept themselves at a pretty safe distance in order to be undiscovered by Mello. Brooke grunted and continued walking at her own pace. Mai glared and paused. She tapped her foot and patted her thigh with her palm impatiently waiting for Brooke to catch up. When she reached her, she glared for a few more seconds before turning and continuing towards the building. They walked for about a minute more before hearing a sudden crazed voice growing louder by the second.

"Delete..Delete..Delete..Delete..Delete..Delete..Delete..DELEEETE!" Brooked jumped and clung to Mai's arm making her drop the umbrella. neither of them made a sound or a move to pick the umbrella back up causing the both of them to get soaked. They stayed put pressed against the building wall. Mai turned to Brooke and Brooke mouthed the words "_What was that?_" Mai then tightened her locked arm around Brooke's and barely tilted her head across the corner. The form of the man startled her temporarily. She saw the man on his knees bent over backwards. He looked to be twitching slightly. Mai didn't realize she was shaking until she felt Brooke rubbing her arm in comfort. She then saw the man sit up suddenly and peek into a door. Mai watched carefully being cautious not to make any noise.

The two could then hear faint talking that seemed to be coming from inside the building.

"You think Mello is in there..?" Brooke whispered to Mai. She shrugged. It was a possibility.

The man seemed to be concentrating on something inside. Reading lips maybe?

He then stood and rapidly pushed the door open.

Mai didn't know what to do...should they follow him? Eavesdrop?...

Her feet answered the question for her as she made her way over to the door that was now only half closed. Brooke unsurely followed behind her.

"Mai we shouldn't-"

"How many seconds has it been since you wrote down the first name?" Said an unfamiliar voice from inside. Mai placed her finger tips to her lips immediately understanding the situation. So that man was writing names...

"He was writing the names of the ones inside...but that...means.." Mai went silent for only a second. "Mell-!" Brooke clamped her hand over Mai's mouth. If it hadn't been raining so hard, she may have been heard.

Mai struggled in Brookes arms but she was held firmly to her chest.

"Mai, Mai!" she yelled quietly. "Calm down, calm down..remember what you told me?"

Mai looked up at her with a frantic and confused expression.

"You said he had already been killed by the deathnote...he can't be killed again. If he _is_ in there..he's safe."

Mai thought for a second and then was able to calm herself. She nodded so that Brooke would release her.

"S-sorry.." She stuttered, slightly embarrassed that out the two, _Brooke_ was the one to remember that little detail. Brooke smiled rubbed at her arm again in comfort.

The two sat for what felt like hours. The rain eventually stopped.

Brooke yawned and leaned against the building. Mai, however was still pressed against the half open door listening to everything.

'_Kira is in the room...so is the SPK and the Japanese Task Force...I, I have to do something...something.' _Mai thought to herself. Once again she was only a few feet from Kira. She couldn't help but think she was suppose to be part of what was going on in there.

A sudden blood curdling scream filled inside the room. It was different from the one they heard before which was out of amusement..or more accurate, insanity.

"Quick, stop the bleeding!" Someone yelled. What had just happened?. Mai nearly had a heart attack when she saw fingers grip the sides of the door and tug. Brooke gasped and pulled Mai away from the door not wanting her to be seen. The moment they fell backwards a man ran/stumbled through the door and started running in the opposite direction. He didn't seem to even notice them.

"Kira..." Mai stated. She could tell that was him from the back of his head. She saw that he was wounded and fought the urge to go after him knowing that she could easily keep pace. He wouldn't get far and with that she stayed in place.

'_Some one else will_ _take care of it_' She thought and right on cue four men ran out after him. She saw badges clipped under their suits so she assumed that was the Japanese Task Force. Her and Brooke waited about five minutes before they realized that no one else was coming out. Brooke slowly stood and then helped Mai stand as well.

"What should we do?" Brooke asked. Mai shrugged. Just then, a woman with pale hair stepped out of the building. Her attention went straight to the two girls. She looked at Brooke.

"You again!" She yelled.

"Crap!..Damn..I-I know this doesn't look good but I..I mean- we..."

"Mello!" Mai stated suddenly, only wanting to see if the woman would give a sign of knowing who she was talking about. The woman's faced softened only slightly.

"You..know Mello."

"W-We took care of him for a couple of days...we only wanted to make sure he got to where he wanted safely! We didn't...we didn't mean to-"

"It's alright Lidner" a familiar voice said. Mello walked out of the building and glared at both Brooke and Mai. "These idiots did save me...they're harmless." Mai saw that Lidner wanted to make an argument but Mello gave her a look that made her just shake it off. Lidner turned to the door and motioned for whoever was inside to come out.

"Near..would you come here please?" Brooke perked up all of a sudden.

"N-Near?" '_What?...H-he's here too? Why?' _she thought, now more concerned about the situation. Suddenly, a pale boy in white pajamas walked slowly from the building. Brooke's eyes went straight to him. Near's lips parted when she caught his eye, but other than that, no other sign of emotion.

"Why, hello again...it seems we're making a habit of bumping into each other" Near said gently. Mello wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that he sounded slightly amused by this.

"You two know each other?" Both Mello and Mai said in sync. Brooke shrugged blushing a bit. "We've met..."

Near glanced over to Mai.

"You however I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet." Mai looked down embarrassed. '_Dammit I'm the odd man out_' Mello then walked forward and placed his hand on her head like she was a child which made her frown.

"She is Matt's younger sister." He said bluntly. Again, Near only parted his lips. '_Huh..I suppose now would be as good a time as ever to tell them...or show them._" Near turned to face Linder and gestured for her to lean down a bit. She leaned so that he could whisper in her ear.

The other three stared blankly and curiously.

"What ever you have to say Near, don't you think you should say it to all of us?" Mello said annoyed. Lidner hesitated before walking back into the building.

"You sure?" Near placed his sleeve covered hand to his mouth and nodded once. He glanced at Mello.

"You will see in a few seconds Mello." Near said gently. He then walked pass Mello and Mai and straight to Brooke. "You're cheeks are red..do you have a fever?" he commented, with a barely visible smirk. She scratched the back of her head awkwardly smiling.

"N-no...its only when I get nervous.." _' Crap...again with the stomach knot. What is with me?_'

Near lifted his eyebrows. "You're nervous right now? With me talking to you?" His voice sounded almost hopeful. Mai and Mello turned around and stared with their mouth open at Brooke and the back of Nears pale head. Were they _flirting_ with each other?

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening wider caused everyone to turn. Linder walked out pushing a wheelchair out with her. Mello's eyes grew wide and his mouth went dry as he saw the person sitting in his view. He couldn't describe the feeling in his stomach.

Matt could only stare jaw dropped.

"M-Mello...Impossible." His voice broke.

"I-I-...I could same the same about you..." Mello sucked in a breath holding in his tears. No one knew what to do. The atmosphere had completely changed. Matt suddenly threw himself from the chair and into Mello's open arms. They both grunted in pain from their previous injuries, but neither of them cared. They only held each other tighter. Mello stroked Matt's hair gently and inhaled his scent, taking in all of him. Unlike Mello, Matt's tears spilled over and soaked Mello's shoulder.

"I love you Matt...I love you so much." Mello mumbled in his ear. Matt got a shiver down his spine at his tone. They didn't even seem to be concerned with the 4 pairs of eyes staring them down. Matt lifted his head slightly to look over Mello's shoulder and right away, a strangely familiar redhead caught his attention. He didn't recognize her at first, but after a few seconds of looking over her features that were now as stunned as he was, he gasped and separated himself from Mello.

"M-Mello..no way...is...is that...?" Mello looked over his shoulder and smirked.

"Yep..." Matt's breathing stopped as he walked up to his younger sibling. He removed his goggles so that she could get a good look at him. Once again his eyes welled with tears.

Mai however was frozen in place, her expression bewildered. Matt looked over her carefully

"You've..You've gotten so tall...you look like me.." He smiled as if he was the luckiest person in the world. His voice had broken at the comment and he wanted to embrace her, but he wanted her to speak..

She continued to gawk at him not saying a word. Mello gave her a look.

"Mai?"

"..."

"M-Mai..." Brooke said beginning to worry.

"Mai" Matt murmured leaning closer . Not knowing what else to do, Near simply took a step forward and poked at Mai's shoulder. Unfortunately, that was all that needed to be done to make her collapse on the ground out cold. Brooke screamed.

"Agh! She-she fainted!" She brushed past Near to sit Mai up and hold her against her chest.

"Poor girl.." She looked up at Matt. "She really has been through too much crap this week...that, and she just never stopped loving you" The words tugged at Matt's heart strings.

"Well...this really is an interesting day" Near commented looking at Lidner. Lidner exhaled and leaned against the wall.

"Certainly goes on my list of crazy shit that's happened during this past month."

**XxX**

Genesis folded his umbrella back into his bag. It was a bit weird how it just stopped raining so suddenly, but he shrugged it off. The sun was beginning to come out and already the streets were drying.

He stopped temporarily to straighten his bra straps. He never was to fond of bras, but his flat chest would only cause suspicion. Aside from the uncomfort from the bra, he looked pretty good as a woman. He had actually had been flirted with a few times in this state.

Not only that, but he had also had an unpleasant experience dressed like this. He didn't like to talk about it...

However, his brother made sure that it wouldn't happen again..

Genesis finally reached the train tracks. He was getting closer to his apartment. He had bought three more jars of jam while he was at the market along with _Nutella_ for himself.

He never did understand how Beyond could stomach eating plain jam. The thought always made Genesis' stomach turn.

He shifted the subject mentally and tugged at his shorts that were way too short for a boy. He walked past an alley way where he spotted a trail of dark liquid leading up the stairs to a factory.

His stomach immediately clenched. Now in a horror movie, this would be the part where everyone yells "Don't follow the trail idiot!" but his curiosity got the best of him.

"I'm going to regret this.." He said to himself. He then slowly followed the trail into a darkened area. The only luminance was the pink glow of the sunset streaming through a stained window. Genesis looked around quietly. He looked down to see where the trail lead and saw that the source was a badly wounded man lying on the steps. Genesis felt a knot in his stomach and couldn't control himself from screaming. He covered his mouth and stared wide eyed at the man.

'_Is he...dead?_' He took a few steps forward and saw that his eyes were half opened. He was looking directly at Genesis, but couldn't seem to speak. The man suddenly jerked upwards slightly and and his eyes closed slowly.

Genesis stared for a few more seconds until he realized he had been holding his breath. He exhaled and fell to his knees. He was so sick of seeing death. He would never get used to the feeling. The air was always thicker when death was present and there was a certain smell to it...even when the corpse was fresh.

Suddenly, Genesis heard the rushing of footsteps growing closer. He had lost all feeling in his legs to move so he only could wait to be found. Then the thought crossed his mind that being found like this wouldn't look too good. So, he decided to put on an act. He forced tears to stream from his eyes and hugged his knees to his chest.

**XxX**

"The scream came from this way!" Matsuda yelled back at the other task force members. He had spotted the blood trail and was certain it would lead to Light. He made a sharp turn into the opening of the abandoned factory nearly tripping over. The view of a raven haired girl sitting on the ground stopped him in his tracks. He looked from her to the stairs to see Lights's body and back. He could understand why a young girl would be stunned by the view.

"Um..excuse me Ms." He said gently, kneeling down to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't be here."

The girl then released her knees from her grip and turned around to face Matsuda.

His lips parted at her appearance. She really _was_ young. What would she be doing around this area anyway?

The other task force members finally reached the two. Their attention went straight to Lights body.

"...Light.." Aizawa breathed, then shut his eyes tightly. The others then realized the woman close to Matsuda.

"Matsuda,..who.?" He looked back at them.

"I'm guessing she followed Light's blood as well and was shocked by the sight of his body...Am I right?" He asked glancing back at her. She nodded and began to sob.

"I-I didn't know, I should leave .." Matsuda nodded and helped her stand.

"We'll make sure you get home safely." He assured her. The girl looked up at him with an innocent face.

"Th-thank you.."

"I'll take her back to the SPK members." Matsuda announced helping her stand. Aizawa nodded and faced Light's body once more walking closer.

Matsuda led the girl from the area and walked back the direction he came.

**XxX**

Lidner dabbed a wet cloth over Mai's forehead as she was layed against her lap. She had been out for about thirty minutes, the poor girl. Near remained quiet against the wall, his eyes had to fight the urge to touch him. It was harder than you would think. Her eyes scanned over his pale and flawless features repeatedly. He suddenly fluttered his eyes open and his eyes shifted in her direction. Brooke got a sudden knot in her stomach and turned away quickly, embarrassed that she had gotten caught gawking. Near simply stared in curiosity. He had never had a woman "like" him before so he wasn't completely sure what it was like. But he was smart enough to know Brooke was taking an interest in him.

Mello and Matt weren't in the building with the others. Matt wanted to be with his younger sibling when she awoke, but Mello had practically forced him away from the small crowd to

familiarize himself with Matt's body once again.

Matt wall pressed against the wall of the building as Mello bit and kissed at the crook of his neck. He was so blissfully unaware of the pain from the pressure being put on his wounds.

Mello slammed his body against Matt's completely. Matt moaned loudly and wrapped his arms around Mello's neck wanting him closer if such a thing was possible. He bit down on his lip as he felt Mello reach down between them.

"Holy Crap! S-sorry!" The two heard a familiar voice shout from behind them. Mello's eyes shot open and he quickly tore himself from Matt to face the Task force member.

Matt stumbled a bit, trying to find a grip on the wall. He hadn't realized that Mello had been supporting his weight the whole time. The two stared embarrassed at Matsuda, but their expressions shifted to confusion when they spotted the small raven haired girl who's attention was only directed at Matt. Matt looked back at the girl trying to figure out where he had seen her before. Just couldn't put his finger on it...

**XxX**

'_WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?_' Genesis screamed mentally as he continued looking from Matt to the Blonde. '_If he's..._together _ with this guy...then why would he ask for my number?_' Even though they were no where close to being in a relationship, he felt a little betrayed. That was when he realized who the blonde standing next to Matt was.

'_That's right...Beyond told me...This guy must be _"Mello" _one of the previous top students at Whammy's...he knew my brother' _He thought to himself. Even when spoken mentally, the words had a bit of acid in them.

Matsuda shook off- more like _attempted_ to rid himself of the unpleasant image he had just seen.

"W-We found Light's body near an abandoned factory a few blocks up, but this little girl found him first..I think she was a bit in shock after seeing him. I wanted to make sure she got home safely-"

"Well, of course..but I do think it would be best to ask her a few questions." Said a monotone voice from behind. Everyone turned their heads to see Near leaned against the door way of the building. Genesis gave him an offended look.

"Ask me questions? For what?"

"If what Matsuda said about you being there first when they found the body is true, who's to say you weren't another accomplice of his that he kept around just in case things didn't go the way he planned. He could have told you to meet him where he was found"

From that sentence, it didn't take long for Genesis to put two and two together. The body...was Kira. He was already well aware of who this Near character was, about Mello..and especially Matt. Matsuda made a face at Near.

"Near! Are you serious? It's over..it's all over she's a little girl. Besides, I'm sure Light didn't plan me shooting him.."

"No, but he may of thought that running was an option that he may of had to take if things went wrong." Matsuda was about to object, but Near went on.

"I'm not accusing her of anything Mr. Matsuda..I'm only saying that I don't want to take the chance of this whole thing happening again." After a short silence, Matsuda nodded and glanced to Genesis.

"Sorry" He mouthed. Genesis gave him a smirk. It seemed like this guy wasn't too far from his age and yet he still had a kidish charm to him. Genesis shifted his eyes back to Matt who was looking at him again. Genesis then glared daggers at him, looked away and let Matsuda lead him into the poorly lit building. Matt's expression was priceless.

Near turned and went through the door before them and Mello and Matt followed slowly behind everyone.

A sudden thought had crossed Genesis' mind before he stepped foot into the building. Making sure no one was paying him any mind, he quickly acted as if he we adjusting his bra and pressed the tiny button located under the miniature mic and dropped his arm to his side.

'_For once...I chose the right day to wear a wire._'

**UGGGGNNNNG! Jeeze! I'm so freaking sorry it took so long to update. I've been lazy and pissed lately for **_certain reasons** but I'm over it. I GOT HIPNOTIZED NOT TO CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ANYMORE SO I'M AAAALL GOOD.**_

**Hopefully I'll be updating quickly throughout the year...yeeeah...lost my train of thought...**

**Oh yeah!**

**I know there's a load of crap going on in the story now. Most of crap is confusing, like "Why the hell is Genesis cross dressing?" or "How the hell does Genesis know about the Kira Case and Whammy's house and Matt and Mello and BLAH BLAH BLAH" All in good time my pretties.**

**Again., I'm sorry it took so long to update, I hope I didn't lose any readers during my time of slacking and PLEASE review :D**

**Ps. You guys are nuts if you believe that I got hipnotized :P**


	11. Nightmare

**Hey there my lovely readers. I know I lost a few readers due to my long writing break, but Im gonna try to earn them back. **

**Here's a short chapter just to give you an idea of what's going to happen. There's still a lot to figure out about the connection between everyone. I can't wait to see what you guys think, but for now, lets just enjoy the slow pace of the story.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Death Note..it's a sad but true fact.**

XxX

The raven haired child dropped the now bloodied blade with trembling hands. The rims of his eyes were getting sore by the second from how wide he was opening them. He couldn't find his words..everytime he attempted to speak, they would get caught in his throat and come out as more of a croak. He closed his hands and opened them repeatedly. He could feel the warm substance slowly becoming sticky and thick between his fingers. His crimson eyes shot down to the two corpses in front of him. Twice he looked from one to the other..

'_Accident...it was an accident...accident...it was an accident..wasn't it? It-It is not my fault...accident...i-it was an accident' _He chanted this mentally for what felt like hours. Looking down at the dead man at his knees, the boy reached out his still trembling arm, His fingers were a blur when stretched forward. He brought his hand down on the man's face and turned it to face him. He felt a knot in his stomach while looking into the man's wide lifeless blue eyes that still looked fear stuck. But the feeling quickly subsided while he scanned his eyes over the several vital wounds that were scattered among his body. The boy suddenly felt the corner of his lips tugging upwards from the sight. The man's shirt that used to be white, now drenched in his own blood. The grinning child watched the man's blood stained face in entertainment, wishing he could cause more pain to him if he weren't already dead. The shift in his emotion didn't seem to matter to him at the moment. Just the feeling of dominance, being feared...It felt _good._ Of course, to Beyond Birthday, that was a bit of an understatement.

Before he knew it, he threw his head back in a wild choky laugh. He stared at the ceiling, his vision going red as the laughs tore through his throat. They almost sounded painful. He hadn't even realized how far backwards he was bending until the upside down view of a petite and feminine boy caught his attention. His laughter stopped, but it still trailed in an echo for a few more seconds before the room was completely silent again. Even upside down, he could see the pain and fear present in the child's light blue convulsed eyes.

Beyond's wide grin slowly worked it's way into a hard line, but his eyes were still filled with amusement as he stared at the younger. The child reached up to his face to wipe his reddened nose with the back of his sleeve without taking his eyes from Beyond.

" Mommy and Daddy are dead now...you did this...it's your fault they're dead...it's your fault...you killed them..you killed Mommy and Daddy" The boys voice was monotone yet so full of emotion. At that moment Beyond once again couldn't speak..he couldn't laugh..not while looking in the eyes of the heart broken boy.

Without any further warning, Beyond felt the sudden unbearable tight grip of hands on his throat. He jerked himself upright and stared in horror at what was the cause of this. In front of him was the face of the dead woman..at least he _thought_ she was dead. She still had a frightful and lifeless appearance. Her skin was cold and gray, her eyes weren't the bright ,cheerful, hazel orbs they used to be..They now were now full of hatred, betrayal, and above all..darkness. Beyond couldn't find his muscles to move any limb. He could only sit in horror as the corpse of the woman strangled him with as much force as she could. She then brought her other hand over his throat, adding on to the pressure to crush his wind pipe. He couldn't manage to gasp for breath..hell he couldn't even control his eyes anymore. They rolled to the back of his head, causing him to not see the corpse woman's next move. She dragged her self up to his face to stare into his absent eyes. Beyond could hear her gurggling inches from his face. It was almost as if she were trying to say something, but alas, it didn't seem likely for her to. Her throat was slit widely open and every time she attempted a word, more blood would gush from the wound and her mouth making speech impossible.

The woman didn't seem to care about the amount of blood she was losing or even seem to feel it. Her long black hair draped over her blood stained face , some of it sticking to her forehead and lips. He rolled her head in a lazy circle to move it from her view to stare at the soffocating Beyond Birthday in her hands. She coughed several times, blooded splattering against Beyond's face. She then made one last attempt to speak.

Although, Those last words that she said before dropping dead and releasing Beyond were muttered and pushed...Beyond understood them completely. He didn't want to believe what she said was true, how could it be from the actions that just took place? But he knew of her feelings oh too well to deny it. Even with what he did to her..she felt this way in life and now in death..

_I still love you.._

xxx-

Beyond forced his eyes open, not being able to take much more of the vivid nightmare. He sat up quickly only to feel a wet cloth plop into his lap from his forehead.

"Y-you were having another nightmare weren't you?" Said a familiar voice full of concern. Beyond shifted his eyes to the cross-dressed dainty male sitting beside him.

Genesis gently pushed his older sibling's hair from his forehead, picked up the wet cloth again and started dabbing.

"It was the same one...the same one I've been having almost every night for years." Beyond answered, his tone abnormally calm and serious. He brought a hand to his face to cover his eyes, but the visions of the nightmare was still visible even when hidden behind eyelids. Genesis froze. He had heard about that dream several times, and each time he heard it, he would be afraid to fall asleep himself.

"Oh.." Was all he could think to say at the moment. He tried thinking of things to lighten his brother's mood, but came to no solutions. Genesis slowly moved the cool wet towel down to Beyond's chest and began dabbing, trying to cool his body temperature a bit. Beyond closed his eyes at the touch, but fluttered them open to glance at his sibling. Genesis didn't seem aware of his gaze. He looked to his eyes. Those same eyes that had bored into him those years ago so full of anxiety, doubt..hate

Were now so loving and trustworthy. Why? How? How after everything he did to him can he still possibly love him?

It didn't make sense to him. But if _She_ could...then it wasn't impossible for him to be able to as well.

Sometimes when he couldn't sleep, he would think that _that_ may be the reason for the way he treated Genesis. To see if he was capable of leaving him. Of losing the love he had for him. Even if Genesis decided to run away, Beyond knew that he would go after him..but after learning that there's a limit to how much the younger could take of him..what then? Would he still "punish" him? What _would _he do to him?

'_What then..?'_ He thought to himself.

"Beyond" Genesis finally spoke again. Beyond blinked once.

"What.."

"You should probably get some more rest. You eyes are red" Genesis joked with a small smile. Beyond grinned at the corny joke and pulled his sibling into a tight hold.

"Haha..you sleigh me.."

XxX

**Alright, so yeah there's a short little intro for what's to come. I hope you enjoyed it ^^**

**I'll update as soon as I can. Please Review! :D**


	12. Ease

**Hey there you guys. Jeeze, it seems like everything happens to me..or at least me and people I know. The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. Anyways, I finally finished this chapter. Believe me, it was not easy starting this, but I hope you like it as it is.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Deathnote...there'd be a lot more cross-dressing if we did :P *sigh* Imagine THOSE fangirls after seeing L in a mini skirt XD**

It was almost 8pm when Mai finally decided to wake up. The room she was in was dark, the only light visible was the light from under the door. She could have sworn she heard a few voices coming from the other side as well. She was so focused on trying to figure out who's voice belonged to who that she didn't hear the growing footsteps. She jumped slightly when she saw the door creak open. She squinted, trying to make out who was coming in. She could see enough to know that it was a guy.

"You up?" he whispered. Right then, she knew who it was. She would have threw herself in his arms if she wasn't so tired. He closed the door behind him and slowly walked over to what looked to be a closet in the dark. He flipped then closet light on, not wanting the room too bright for Mai.

"I know you just woke up..don't want your eyes hurting." Matt said smiling over to his younger sibling. He walked and with out a word lied next to her. Mai already felt her eyes filling with tears at the sight of her brother's smile. She quickly wiggled herself into his arms and buried her face in his shoulder. She could detect a small hint of cigarettes, but she could tell he had attempted to cover it up before coming in.

As if he read her mind, he spoke..

" Sorry, Im trying to quit..."

Mai chuckled a bit.

"Good..but right now, we don't have to worry about that. I missed you so much Mail..." At that, everything was silent. Mai closed her eyes and felt herself drifting back into a peaceful slumber. The last thing she remembered feeling was the warmth of Matt's tears on the top of her head.

"Me too...you have no idea.." Only a few minutes after did Matt fall asleep as well.

**XxX**

Lidner splashed cool water in her face and hissed at the cold sting. Still, she needed it, she's probably need to make coffee too. She and the other SPK members, even though everything was finally over, they were still up late. She dried her face with a near by towel and turned to walk into the hall. She didn't bother to replace the lipstick she wiped off. She could hear Mello yelling, probably at Near, all the way in the control room. She couldn't hear Near, but knowing him he was probably responding quietly. She wandered down the hall and into the automatic doors to see Rester sleeping at his desk and Gevani organizing papers, putting them in boxes. She looked over to the lounging area and saw she was right about the old rivals arguing. The dark haired girl from earlier left hours ago after being questioned by Near. She was quick with her answers, very polite and didn't seem to have anything to do with the Kira case at all. Near asked her if she could come back tomorrow just to be certain. That was the only time she hesitated, but agreed in the end. Lidner turned around when she heard a sudden dripping sound. She saw that Brooke was making coffee.

'_She's still here.._' She thought looking from her to Near and back. She smirked and walked over to the tall brunette. Brooke looked over her shoulder and gave a warm smile when she saw Lidner coming. She poured a cup for her.

"Coffee?" She offered. Lidner smiled and leaned against the counter as she took it.

"You read my mind. Thanks" She turned and began adding cream and sugar to her coffee.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. After everything that's happened today..I don't want to have any nightmares." She took a sip from her cup. Lidner nodded remembering that they didn't get to handle Mikami's corpse before Brooke and Mai came in.

"Sorry about that..but you're a young girl. You should get your rest." She said stirring. Brooke gave a small chuckle.

"Thanks, but I'm not too young. I just turned twenty one a few weeks ago."

Lidner looked at her with her eye brows raised.

"Wow..you look seventeen or Near's age. You have a very young face..I wish I did." She smiled beginning to sip at her coffee. "Speaking of which...you wouldn't happen to like Near at all would you?" The question caught Brooke off guard and made her choke on some of her coffee.

"Wait..what?" She exclaimed giving Lidner a look.

"I just couldn't help but notice the way you looked at him earlier today. Seems like you really _like_ him."

"Wh-what are you ten?" She yelled embarrassed. Lidner laughed at her expression.

"From your reaction, I take it I'm not far off. I don't blame you..he's very likable." Brooke's cheeks tinted a light pink as she turned her head in Near and Mello's direction. She could only see the back of Near's head, but that was still enough to make her stomach clench.

"He's so pale.." She commented. Lidner nodded.

"He's certainly inherited his mother's gene." She said finishing her coffee. Brooke looked up at her suddenly.

"His mother?...You know his mother?"

"..Knew." She corrected.

"Oh." Brooked looked down at her feet.

"It was very long ago...and he doesn't show any signs of remembering what happened. He was very young."

"He is still very young." Brooke added. Lidner nodded as she turned to rinse her cup and place it in the dishrack. She touched Brooke's shoulder.

"You're welcome to stay here for the night. It's to dark for a girl to be walking through the streets alone."

"Y'know..you all are very trusting..letting two strange girls stay here. How can you let me sty so easily without a second thought?"

"You are friends of Mello no? He may not be number one..but he's very smart. If he trusts you enough to have you both here..we have nothing to worry about." She answered simply and turned to head for the hall. "I'm gonna get some sleep. You should too." She then walked through the automatic doors and disappeared behind them in a matter of seconds. Brooke shifted her attention back to the two rivals.

"Dammit! You piss me off you know that? Is that a mission of yours? You..y-ugh!" Mello threw his hands in the air in frustration and stormed away in the same direction as Lidner. What did Near say to get him so worked up? It had only been a few minutes. Soon after, Near stood slowly and headed for the bathroom. Did he forget that she was in the room? Or..did he just not care. Brooke knew she might have been over thinking things, but the thought still bothered her. She watched as he closed the door behind him. She then placed her coffee cup in the sink and walked to the couch. The first thing to catch her eye was a very familiar looking rubics cube. She smiled to herself knowing it was the one she made for him. She also spotted a few finger plushies laying next to it as well. She sat down where Near sat and picked up the plushie that looked the most like him. She lied her head on the arm of the couch as she placed plushie Near on her index finger. She traced the hair lines with her other finger, not realizing she was slipping into a deep sleep every second she spent resting on the couch. She hadn't realized how sleepy she was. Why did she feel so tired now?

Brooke closed her eyes completely, her hand dropped without the plushie slipping off and fell asleep within seconds.

After slashing water in his face, Near looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in years..Near observed his features. His skin seemed to have lightened a bit from the last time he looked at himself. the dark shade under his eyes were more visible...reminded him of someone..

"L..." He murmured. He thought back in time..when he first found out about L's death. He never _really_ reacted to it. He remembered saying that L was a loser..and he regretted it. At the time, he was only angry at him for letting himself be killed. But was he really mad at L? Or himself for not being able to prevent it from happening.

L saved his life when he was a child and treated him as if he _were_ his child. He couldn't return the favor..and for a while he hated himself for it. Near sighed and pressed his hands to either side of his face, as if to push the thoughts out of his mind.

"Forgive me.." He exhaled before walking out of the bathroom and back into the control room. His eyes widened slightly to see a sleeping Brooke on the couch. He hesitated before walking over to the couch to observe the girl. He spotted his plushie on her finger and didn't even realize he was smiling from seeing it was _his_ caricature. He watched her face as she slept. Her expression was so peaceful and at ease. He looked around the room suddenly and grabbed a small blanket that was sitting on the seat of a chair. He flapped it open and covered Brooke with it, not wanting her to catch a cold. He stood watching her for a moment longer before lying down on the far end of the couch . He reached behind him for one of his plushies, searching for a specific one. He felt around it and knew he had picked up the right one. He pulled the L plushie to him self and looked into its plastic eyes.

"..How would you define affection for someone?" He asked L quietly.

It didn't take long for Near to fall into as deep of a sleep as Brooke. From everything that's happened..he needed a good night sleep.

XxX

**Sorry so very very sorry for being late with the update. I've been really busy lately. I took the ACT twice so I had a lot of studying to do. On the upside, I am now a Senior! A short Senior, but a Senior none the less ^.^**

**These short chapters are just little minisodes. I'm just showing what happened after the Kira case was over. The story will start to build up again soon, I promise :)**

**Alright my beautiful loyalty readers, I'm off to start the next chapter. I'll be making a computer game of this story as well so that you can get a visual of everything. I'm sure you can guess that it will take a while. Anyways please review and bare with me alright?**


	13. Lies

**Hiya there readers ^^ I know once again it's been a while, but I'm trying I'm trying. Anyways, a burst of additions for this story just flooded to my mind one day and I wrote it all down so I don't forget to plug everything in the necessary areas. I hope you like this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please please review or recommend my story to a few friends lol I know that's weird to ask, but I think I lost a few readers in the time it took to upload..I need more readers..so if you could it would mean a lot! ^_^ Alrighty, enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: **

**I don't own Deathnote because if I did, the addition and halfing of Misa's lifespan would have been less difficult to understand -_- (I mean really?! How many years DOES she have left?)**

Beyond sat straddled on the couch with Genesis facing away from him. He was twirling and running through his dark hair with his long fingers, every now and then approaching a tiny tangle giving Genesis the chills.

"You should comb through your hair after a shower baby brother. Your hairs going to end up looking like...well..mine." He commented with a like laugh. Genesis leaned back against the older. He loved it when he was like this. So brotherly and _loving_ at the same time.

"Maybe I want it to look like yours.." Genesis smirked leaning his head back to look up at his brother. Beyond bent his head until there eyes were an inch apart.

"Get your own style." He grinned. He gently pushed Genesis from him and stood from the couch suddenly.

"Where are you going?" Genesis asked giving him a look.

"I just remembered...I wired you yesterday didn't I?" He said in a serious tone sitting in front of his sibling now. Genesis' throat went dry for a second. He nodded and began to reach into the bra he was still wearing, but was stopped by Beyond's strong hands. He took it upon himself to reach into the younger's shirt to unclip the devise and slowly pull it from the bra. Even knowing there was nothing there, Genesis couldn't help but blush at the touch. He put his head down as Beyond studied the devise as if nothing occured.

"The fact that they let you go..shows that they trusted you had nothing to do with the Kira murders...Fools. So careless." He criticized.

"Well...they _did_ ask me to come back tomorrow..I-I told them that I would." Beyond looked up at him.

"Did you now?" Genesis couldn't really tell if he was upset about that or not.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped. If you don't go..it will only cause you more suspicion." He stated the obvious.

"Wouldn't this be considered a good thing? I mean...you wanted me to keep a close eye on them didn't you? The SPK." Genesis asked. Beyond smiled a bit.

"This is a bit _too_ close wouldn't you think? They've kept themselves hidden well. _His_ style has changed a bit from the Los Angeles case...**L**..." Genesis watched as his brother's face remained the same, but his hands grew into tight fists. Beyond already suspected that L had been deceased for a while, but didn't want to believe it. Not that he felt sorry for him, not that he secretly admired him..but that _his_ case wasn't the case to end him. Of course, during the Los Angeles murder case, it was only a game...a game that L would never win at. He never intended on actually killing him. But even though L was dead..the game wasn't over for Beyond. He would have loved for it to be L that he defeated, but now that he was gone..he will move to the next best thing. His successor..

**XxX**

It was about 6am when Matt walked out of Mai's temporary room. After all these years, she hadn't changed as much as he thought. She was more confident..independent, but she was still the little red head girl he remembered. He would have woke her up the moment he was awake, but he figured she needed her rest. He rubbed the back of his head as he yawned widely. It was quiet throughout the building..everyone else must have been asleep. Matt continued down the poorly lit hall towards the control room. He reached the automatic doors and once in the room, saw that the only light source was from the many computer screens. He walked slowly to one of the desks and sat heavily. Out of bordom Matt reached into his vest to pull out his phone, flipped it up and started scrolling through his list of contacts. He realized that there were so many people in his contacts that he never called. He even had Linda's number, and he hadn't talked to her in years. He continued to scroll through the names by the alphabet. _Gabriel, Gavin, Genesis..._

'_Genesis! crap..' _He exclaimed mentally, remembering that he was suppose to call him. He didnt remember when he told him he would. He scrolled down until his name was highlighted and hesitated before selecting it. He thought about just blowing it off, and he would never see Genesis again. After all..the only reason he wanted his number was because he needed a distraction from Mello's being dead, but now...

"You're up early." Mello's voice came from behind. Matt jumped a little as he turned to look at him. He was zipping his leather vest as he walked closer.

"I could say the same about you...You stayed up later than me, how are you awake?"

Mello placed his hands on Matt's shoulders.

"Hmm...I'm used to not sleeping much. I've only slept 14 hours this week." He said it as if it were a fact he were proud of.

"How you keep yourself pretty I'll never know." He smirked. Mello gave a cocky smile before bending to kiss Matt on the crook of his neck. Matt bit back a noise and did his best to hide the cell phone screen from him. He didn't seem to see it because he walked to the kitchen area suddenly. Matt let out a sigh of relief and looked to his phone again. Right when he was going to choose "_Dial" _his phone started vibrating. Genesis' name flashed on the screen as it continued with it's buzzing.

"That your phone?" Mello called over his shoulder. _'Crap!..'_ Matt thought.

"Yeah.." He answered, standing up and starting towards the bathroom.

Mello turned and made a face.

"What's up? Who is it?"

Matt grumbled. Damn nosey...

" Oh uh, I ordered Fall Out 4 from _Akihabara Gamers._ They're probably just calling to tell me it's ready."

"And you're going to the bathroom for that? Heh.." Matt paused for a second.

"Mello, relax. I just don't like when people listen to my conversations." Mello's eyes widened slightly. Matt never usually talked back to Mello. He turned and continued walking until he reached the bathroom.

"Damn.." He swore seeing that he missed the call. He searched Genesis up again and selected his number. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Hello?...Genesis?"

"Matt?" Matt's chest got tight for a second. It had been a while since he heard Genesis' voice. He forgot how nice sounding it was, but he couldn't help but feel he'd heard it not too long ago.

"Hey, I'm sorry I never got around to calling you. Everything's been pretty crazy."

"Heh , don't worry about it, things have been pretty crazy with me as well. I'm glad you called back though..I almost thought you wouldn't at all."

Matt smiled to himself.

"No, I was just looking at your number a few seconds before you called. Creepy or what?"

"Haha that's a pretty common thing with people."

" So...what were you thinking about calling me for? Genesis asked. His tone suddenly seemed unwelcoming.

"Er..well..honestly..to talk." Matt answered bluntly. There was a long pause on the phone after that.

"Just to talk?" Genesis sounded suprised, but pleased.

" I've been keeping everything to myself lately and..I mean, sure there are people I _could_ talk to about how I'm feeling right now, but I don't think I'd be _able _to talk them about it. I just need to vent..to someone who won't judge me. Who else than a nice stranger who doesn't know me well enough to judge? heh..." To Matt's suprise, he could hear the smile in Genesis' voice when he spoke again.

"And I'm that stranger am I? Haha..sure...that sounds nice. You want to meet somewhere then?"

"Y-yeah...thanks..at a coffee shop maybe?"

"Sure, the _Bear Pond_ okay? I go there all the time."

" Perfect. See you in about an hour and a half?"

"Yeah."

"See you there."

"Bye, Matt..."

Matt smiled to himself. When people said your name that way at the end of a sentence..it usually meant _something_. For a moment, Matt almost forgot where he was..in the bathroom..on the phone. He snapped his phone shut and tucked it in his pocket. He looked up at himself and suprised himself with how much color was in his face. Did he look like this before talking to Genesis? He shook his head. He was giving this boy too much credit. He was just another ordinary guy...so why was it that him going to meet with Genesis excited him. At that moment he wondered if Genesis was as excited as he was. A knock on the door nearly gave Matt a heart attack.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you alright in there?" Mello asked. Matt breathed evenly and reached for the door knob. Mello stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowed. Matt's stomach tightened.

"Wh-what?" Mat breathed looking down at his feet brushing past Mello.

"That was a pretty long talk for a game order.."

"Yeah well I get excited and start talking about the game with the people on the other line sometimes, so sue me!."

Just then he heard Mello make a sound. It was hard to explain. The sound was almost that of frustration. Mello always played the tough guy out of the two..the _dominant_ one. Ironic that he was the most feminine looking of the two. Matt could tell that he was suspicious of the phone call. However Mello couldn't simply tell him that the situation worried him as much as it did without ruining his tough guy image. On top of that..before anything had happened, he was working on his over protective control issues and he wanted to carry that out completely. Matt looked back at him with an apologetic expression. He walked over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll be back...I promise." Mello gave a forced smile before Matt turned and continued out the door. Matt wasn't planning on this meeting with Genesis to be romantic or anything...

so...

'_Why do I feel guilty about this?_'

**AGH! two months GODS I'm so sorry. Anyways I hope you liked this chapter. There's still a lot to go. You all have been very patient with me so thank you. Keep this in mind, I always update my stories. It's been a year since I updated my first story, but I'm still working on it so no matter how long it's been, always expect an update alright? Don't lose faith in me!**

**Now that that cheesy line is said..PLEASE REVIEW! :D I love you all!**

**Ps. I know Fall Out 4 is not actually out, but keep in mind, this is based a couple of years from now ^_^**


	14. Hallusinations

**Hiya lovely readers. This is a bit of a minisode, just to know what the other characters are up to right now. As I'm sure you can tell, there's gonna be a lot of these so please Enjoy, and please review! **

**Another chapter will be released shortly, promise ^_^**

* * *

It was raining _again_. How many times did that make it today? twice? three times? Not that Beyond could really keep track. He hadn't slept for three days straight so to him everyday felt like the same one. He sat up slowly causing the springs in the couch to creak noisily. He wiped his exhausted eyes to sooth the soreness in them. Funny...him being as tired as he was and not being able to fall alseep. He didn't _want_ to fall asleep would be a truer statement.

He didn't know what he would do if he saw her face again...The thought of her dead, fear-struck,vacant eyes staring at him made him want to vomit. Suddenly Beyond pushed his hands on either side of his face and pushed roughly while grunting. The face wouldn't go away..._Why won't it go away!?_

He clawed at his hair and shook his head from side to side. His rapid movements caused him to fall hard onto the floor. He heard something in his shoulder crack when he collided with the wood, but payed it no mind during his episode. The pain started to rise in his shoulder as he began dragging himself with one arm to the bathroom door.

"GO AWAY! You bitch! Get away from me!" Beyond screamed this even though there was no one. He dragged himself as if he was trying to get away from someone. His mind took over as his sudden hallucination grew more vivid. He could smell her perfume..he could feel every touch she had ever given him from strokes on his cheeks to kisses. The areas she touched..they burned..they _burned_. Once in the bathroom, Beyond kicked the door shut and lied on his back screaming for the face to go away once again. He raked his nails across his face to scratch away the feeling of her touch. He did this repeadily. Even when he could see the build up of blood and small pieces of skin under his finger nails he did not stop. Usually Genesis would come rushing when this happened, but this time..he never came.

_Why?...WHerE is He? Genesis..Genesis! Save me! Where are you!?_

Beyond couldn't find his voice to call out to his sibling. When his hands cramped from their bent positions on his face, they fell to his sides. He could feel blood dripping from his wounds. His ears were ringing from his shouting. After a few minutes. He managed to stand himself up even with the shaking of his arms and legs. He gripped onto the sink for support and slowly raised his head to look at his bloodied face in the mirror. He had seen a lot worse so his appearance didn't startle him..like it would a _normal_ human being. He breathed heavily trying to fight the urge to vomit. He placed his bloody hands onto the water handles and twisted them to their extent. The rushing sound of water comforted him in a way. He rinsed his hands thoroughly and then bent to splash water on his face. He watched the water tint pink as he continued rinsing his face. He flung his head backwards breathing heavily. He watched as the distorted form of the ceiling lights cleared from his blurred vision. He breathed evenly and began to lower his head. He felt like crying, but fought himself not to. Even if he was alone, he would not show weakness. He could see blood welling up to his wounds again, he leaned over to rip off a strip of toilet paper. When he leaned back to the mirror to dab the wounds, he nearly had a heart attack, for not only was the face of the woman there behind him, but her full form..her bloodied clothing, the gash on the side of her throat. Her eyes were different in this hallucination. They were softer..

She didn't look angry, upset or frightened. She only watched him unblinkingly. Beyond stared at her in horror, fists clenched and on guard in case she attempted anything. His stomach clenched when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Beyond.." She spoke clearly making Beyond's eyes widen. It wasn't like in the dream where she could barely speak. It was as clear as it used to be.

" Beyond, love...It's alright...Please don't cry..please don't be sad.." Beyond shook his head as she spoke. Her voice and words were too much to handle right now.

"N-no!..Stay the hell away from me!" He yelled at the mirror. The woman smiled.

"But I love you..I've always loved you...I'll always love you...please do not be sad...do not feel guilty." Right then Beyond slammed his fists against the sink and screamed.

"Shut _up_! You're the reason I'm like this...I'm not the one to blame. _Guilty_? I don't feel guilt!...I'm Beyond Birthday!" Beyond then punched and shattered the mirror making the woman disappear. He panted staring at the empty frame for a few seconds before opening the door and walking to his and Genesis' room. He closed the door and collapsed on the bed. Holding it back anymore was impossible. For the first time in years, Beyond buried his face into the sheets and wept.

**Aww poor Beyond getting crazier everyday, but there is obviously a hidden meaning behind all of this, guess we'll just have to wait and see. Hope you liked this mini chapter! ^_^**


	15. Connection

**Hey there my lovely readers! Thank you so much for your kind reviews, they made my day ^_^**

**Oh! I have a question for you all. Now I have a plan for the story such as where it's going to lead up to, but is there anything you all would like to see happen? If you have an idea of what you want me to put in, you can leave a suggestion review or more preferred, send me a message about it and I'll write a chapter on it ^^ I think it will be fun. **

**I'll leave more info about it at the end of the chapter. Enjoy! 3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Deathnote because if I did, Beyond would have made an appearance in the anime!**

With his thoughts preoccupied with whether or not Beyond was alright being alone in the apartment, Genesis tapped his fingers on the side of his coffee mug nervously waiting for Matt.

He looked around the shop. There weren't as many people today as there usually were.

'_Why am I even here?_' Genesis sighed mentally. '_ He's obviously not interested in me...what am I doing?_' He had half a mind to just leave. Ever since he witnessed Matt kissing the blonde that he assumed to be Mello, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. The swift movement of the chair being pulled out across the small table snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced up to see Matt smiling at him awkwardly. Genesis gave him a warm smile and waved a little.

"Hey" Matt said switching himself from the wheelchair to the chair, sitting slowly and then scooting up to the table. "Sorry I'm late. I take long showers and then...my wardrobe doesn't really have much variety. " he explained.

Genesis chuckled.

"Don't worry about it. I haven't been here long" It was then that Genesis actually noticed that for the first time that he wasn't wearing stripes when he saw him, but a snug, double layered, black and gray cardigan shirt with black jeans. He even replaced his goggles with thin rectangular glasses that suited him well. He was completely different from the Matt he ran into at the store and the Matt that he had seen making out with Mello.

"You know...you look like a K-pop star." Genesis commented amused. It took only a second for Matt to laugh.

"Pfft...thanks?"

"You look...really nice though" Genesis looked away with light tint of pink growing on his cheeks. Matt's expression brightened at the complement.

"Thanks. I like to switch my style every now and then."

"It looks like it took you a lot of time...did it?." Matt shrugged.

"...It did." He smiled lightly. "But it's alright...was kind of fun. I never really experiment with my hair." he chuckled running his fingers through his hair so that the top swooped to one side. Genesis gave a light laugh and sipped at his coffee.

"So...you said you wanted to talk?" He asked glancing up at him, resting his head on his palm. Matt cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yeah...I...my minds just been cluttered lately. So much has happened in the last few days and...I just don't know what to think anymore."

Genesis grimaced. "Is there anything specific that's really bothering you?...Are you in college? Under stress?, Fights with friends?...r-romantic issues?" His voice shrunk at the last part, but he maintained a straight face. Matt noticed the small change in Genesis' tone, but did his best not to show any facial expression from it.

"Well...I guess you could say that...But also...family issues...there's a lot of that too." He sighed.

"I can relate to you with that one." Genesis stated with an uncomfortable smile. Matt took the small menu in his hand and looked down at it, he wasn't really looking at the order options...just staring blankly.

"What kind of family issues?" Genesis asked.

"...I just found my sister after almost 10 years...I-I have no idea what she's like now. I want to catch up with her, but I'm afraid that if I do...she'd hate me..."

Genesis knitted his eyebrows slightly. Not in a judging way, but one of sympathy.

"Matt...I dont think it matters how long you've been away from her. She's your sister...she won't hate you." Genesis folded his hands under the table.

"You don't understand, I've done things throughout majority of my life that I'm not proud of...So much that if I cut out anything I don't want her to know, I won't have much to tell her.

Not only that, but before we separated, I promised I would always protect and take care of her. With 10 years of evidence, you can see that I clearly broke that promise...I have no idea how to be a brother..."

Genesis watched and listened as Matt ranted on about how disappointed he was with himself. The look on his face while described the day Mai was adopted... hurt even Genesis just by watching him. He listened as Matt continued to spill everything that's been on his mind for the last few days...weeks...hell maybe months. He never talked to Mello like this. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but with Mello's emotions being sensitive and easy to trigger, he had to be very careful with the things he said. He didn't have to worry about that with Genesis. He could speak his mind without the fear of being interrupted or judged. But because Matt grew comfortable with talking to Genesis, he accidently let something slip out with the flow of the conversation.

" There's also this complicated relationship with my boyfriend, I'm not sure what I want from him anymo-" Matt got a sudden lump in his throat remembering what he said and who he was talking to. '_Dammit...I don't want him to know I like guys yet..._boyfriend_ why the hell did I say that?_' Matt looked up to see that Genesis showed no change in emotion. Shocked by his lack in judgment, Matt frowned. Genesis just gave him a gentle smile.

" I told you, I wouldn't judge you Matt. Besides, its really not hard to figure out that you're...homosexual." Genesis then developed a light shade of pink on his cheeks. " I could be wrong, but when we met, it seemed like you were...*clears throat* flirting with me...I kind of figured it out then." Genesis twirled his fingers on the table nervously. There were those few seconds of awkward silence before Matt spoke again.

"Yeah...I was. I want to be honest with you Genesis...You've been so understanding and nice to me today. I mean that's an understatement, but the day before we met, I received news that my boyfriend had passed away. I was hurt, confused...lost. He was the only other person I never separated with throughout my whole life. Really the only one I really _knew_. Then when I met you the following day, you temporarily made me forget about the pain. You were someone completely different than Mell- my boyfriend. His death turned out to be a misunderstanding for someone else...but even with him still being alive, those feelings I had didn't shake. And this may sound really corny and ridiculous to you, but when I really got a good look at you and we spoke for the first time...I felt...this sort of..." Matt seemed to be struggling for the correct words.

"Connection" Genesis finished, his expression unreadable. Matt looked up at him bewildered. He parted his lips.

"Y-you too?" he asked. His voice almost hopeful.

Genesis couldn't help but smile to himself. "Heh...I...I thought it was just me. I thought I was going crazy by liking someone so quickly."

"So...you're admitting that you like me?" Matt had a cocky smile on his face. Genesis looked up and smiled shyly.

"There'd be no point in lying now would there? But I would like to get to know you a little better."

He noticed Matt's smile drop a little.

"Matt...you can trust me not to judge. You just told me a while ago how you needed someone to tell everything to and well...I...I w-want to know everything about you." He stuttered nervously, realizing that he was giving Matt a bit of a confession along with his words of encouragement.

Matt stared blankly at Genesis for a few moments, shocked by how honest he was being. Genesis stared back until he felt uncomfortable with the silence. Matt was the first to break it.

"Ask me anything..." He stated, placing his elbow on the table and his head in his palm. Genesis' expression brightened.

"Well...I really did want to know how you got in a wheelchair." Genesis saw Matt's expression dim a bit, but he recovered.

"I recently got in a car accident from being caught in the crossfire of a drive by shooting. I'll be able to walk again, but I still have wounds in my legs that make it difficult for me to walk." '_It wasn't completely a lie...' _

Genesis' eyes were filled with concern, it made Matt feel strange...not uncomfortable, just strange.

"S-so...have you practiced walking lately?" He asked, trying not to offend him in any kind of way. Matt smiled in reassurance.

"Yes, I have. I'm doing a lot better, but like I said, I still have some difficulties."

Genesis nodded and unexpected smiled as if he were the happiest ever. Matt lifted an eye brow. '_What's with this guy?_' He thought, but couldn't help but smile back a little.

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry, I was just thinking. You were so open to me...no one else has really talked to me this way except for my brother. It really means a lot. Regardless of him being there...I've felt so alone these last few weeks."

Matt grimaced. "I've been feeling alone lately too..."

Genesis sighed and placed his hands on the table. Matt then unthinkingly reached up to cover Genesis' hand with his own, but shortly after lifted it briskly from the sudden electric shock he got from touching his skin. The two made eye contact for half a second and then quickly shifted their eyes away from each other in embarrassment. Both blushing and thinking the same thing. Even though electric shocks were fairly common when people touched, they couldn't shake the idea that it meant something else with them.

Completely dropping the subject, Matt once again broke the awkwardness.

"S-so...do you want to do something today?"

Genesis looked up quickly, his cheeks still flushed.

"L-like...go on a date? Are you asking me on a date?" Genesis sounded almost excited. He had never been asked out before, he was always forced.

Matt smiled.

"Do you _want_ me to ask you on a date?"

The word "yes" got caught in Genesis' throat.

"I thought you said you had a boyfriend..." He said deflated.

"I told you...it's complicated." Matt then suddenly leaned over the table to look at Genesis closer. Genesis back away a few centimeters.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Matt asked as casual as a boy would a girl. At that, Genesis could no longer resist.

"Y-yes.." He answered nervously.

The two then finished their coffees and began to leave the cozy shop. Genesis helped Matt into his wheelchair and rolled him out of the shop.

"It's alright, I can roll myself." Matt stated.

"I know." Genesis smiled. Matt turned away so that Genesis wouldn't see him blushing. Genesis continued to push Matt down the sidewalk, neither of them thinking of anywhere specific they were heading. If only their minds were as peaceful as their expressions.

'_Damn, Mello is going to kill me_'

'_Damn, Beyond is literally going to kill me..._'

**So! That was the chapter :D Sorry it took so freaking long . I had to get all my college preparation stuff finished.**

**Like I said, if you guys have an idea of what you want to see happen in the story, please message me and I'll try to write about it in the chapter after next ^_^ I hope you liked this chapter, I planned for it to be longer, but I just wanted to update it quicker. Please Review! Love you all! 3**

**~ IIRubyR3dII**


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